Pokemon: The Final Saga
by PaulXion
Summary: Ash, Dawn, Brock and the rest of the Sinnou crew are finally on their way to the Siinou stadium to have their last battle altogether. But during their travel an ancient prophecy reveals itself to our heroes. Fireredshipping-Pearlshipping PEACE!
1. On The Track

(In a small ruin near Celestic town)

**(In a small ruin near Celestic town)**

In a small ruin deep within the inland of the Sinnou region, a group of archaeologists were digging through the rocks of the great three ancient ones. They were on the search for clues that could guide them to the three legendary Pokemons. Uxie, the Pokemon of knowledge, Mespirit, the Pokemon of emotion and Azelf, the Pokemon of will. They all thought that they might be able to find something about those three here in the ruins where they were first sought, but little did they know that they were about to find something much more secret.

"Phew… I'm exhausted" said one of the diggers, "We've been digging for so long my arms feel like they're going to come off"

"I heard that" the other digger agreed wiping the sweat off his brow. Because the cave was so vast, the archeologists had to hire a small band of diggers from the nearby village to help them with the excavation. "Let's just finish our dig so we can go and grab a bite"

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to miss lunch now"

As the workers went back to their digging, the team of archeologists arrived on site to see how the work was progressing. So far they had spent a total of three weeks in this mountain and so far they have found very little regarding the three legendary Pokemons.

"Kyle, give us a status report" the head of the expedition ordered to one of his subordinates.

"Yes professor" the young lad replied holding a piece of paper in his hand, "So far we've dug about six kilometers into the cave, but the wall of the Pokemons seems to be protected on all sides. Since we're not allowed to use electronic devices here in the mountains, it's been tedious work"

"I see……" the leader of the group replied with a stern face, "It looks like we'll have to go faster if we want to make any progress. I'll allow the use of rock type Pokemons in the dig but nothing more. I don't want to damage any of these artifacts more than they are now" but just when he was about to head back towards the main camp, one of the diggers shouted out to grab his attention.

"Hey! We found something!" immediately the professor and other diggers joined in to see what the digger had discovered. "Hey you, help me lift this boulder up" as they removed a heavy stone from its resting place, a large pedestal the size of a Steelix appeared before them.

The thing was made entirely out of solid rock, nearly indestructible by common handheld weapons. Its metallic structure was still strong and firm and the dust and rocks endured it through the aging of time. There were some strange symbols and writings on the pedestal, but it was unlike anything any human had ever seen before. There were pictures, words and tapestries that spoke a destiny… but whose destiny was it?

"Out of the way you nimrods!" the professor barked as he shoved the diggers away from the pedestal. "This… this is…… could it be?"

"Professor?" the young assistant said a little worried about their new discovery.

"Contact professor Rowan immediately" the chief ordered, "Tell him…… we found the prophecy…" and without another word the assistant dashed off to find the nearest telephone booth so that he may call on the great Pokemon expert of the region. Professor Rowan.

At the beginning of time, twelve masters created the world

Their powers were equal, 'just' and balanced

The world was their canvas

Their hands were their brushes

Their powers were their colors

And the universe was their studio

But when the balance of power should shift, it is the signal of _World's End_

Embody shall the power of twelve be…

A servant shall step forward

A servant that will walk with the masters

A servant that shall destroy the cleanse the world and grow it anew

The sun will purge the earth of impure

The land shall scorch away

The sea shall dry up and never a drop shall be spared

And all life shall fade… bringing in a new world

All fear… the servant of the twelve…

All shall hate the servant of the twelve…

All shall fight against the servant of the twelve…

One servant and twelve masters…

**Chapter 1: On The Track**

The Sinnoh region…

A place of beauty and magnificence, a place where cities and towns are closer to nature than any other region in the world, a place that anyone could call home and a place where even the greatest adventures to start. It was a peaceful region sitting in the middle of the ocean. It had no quarrel with the outside world. But now… a great disturbance was coming and none of the people there know how much in danger they were in.

**(Train station Pokemon center near Sunnyshore** **city) (07:10 AM)**

"Haaaaa…" that was the sound of a certain young Pokemon trainer yawning out loud as he awoke in his guest room at the Pokemon center. "Haa… what a nice day" it wasn't long then until a Pikachu suddenly crept up his shoulder giving out a wide stretch, "Oh hey there Pikachu, did you have a nice nap? (Pika chu…)" the little mouse replied with a thumbs up. "That's great. Now wait here while I go and get cleaned up" he gently put the little Pikapal down on the bed and hurried himself to the restroom. But before the boy could get in, a familiar voice suddenly came banging through his door.

"Hey Ash!" said the person on the other side of the door, "Its morning already, your breakfast is ready. Come on, Dawn and I are waiting for you"

"Oh, it's Brock" said the boy now known as Ash, "Alright Brock, thank you. I'll be right there in a minute" he yelled back as he quickly changed into his everyday attire. A black and white T-shirt with a yellow stripe slashed across the center. This boy was Ash Ketchum. He's a Pokemon trainer from Pallet town in the Kanto regions and soon to be Pokemon Master. He had been training in the Sinnoh region for several months now to participate in the Sinnoh league, a tournament only for trainers. He had already earned all the badges needed for the tournament, but now the only problem was getting there.

As the boy exited his room, he quickly put on his favorite Pokemon cap and headed off towards the dining area where his friends have gathered. They were all sitting in a small round table that was offered in the Pokemon center. Not only was the food delicious but it was also extremely filling and affordable by Pokemon trainer salaries of course.

"Good morning Ash" said the blue haired girl who was sitting on the opposite side of Brock, the squinty eyed trainer. "I see you're up finally"

"Yeah, morning" Ash replied with a slight smile, "I woke up earlier this morning but I must've went back to sleep again ahehehehe"

"Well I'm not surprised" Brock smirked, "After all that training last night, I would've been tired too. With all that practice, I'm sure that you must be ready for the Sinnoh league"

"You bet I am!" came the young trainer's quick reply, "Me and my Pokemons have been training for months for this event! We've all worked really hard for this day and I'm gonna show the world the true face of a champion! (Pi pikachu!)" the two partners flexed out their muscles to show off their determination on winning the tournament.

"Spirited as always" the blue haired girl replied, "That's the Ash I remembered" the girl wore a white beanie hat with a pink Pokeball symbol on top. She wore a black sleeveless shirt covered with a red scarf and a miniskirt that barely reaches her knee. She also had a pair of pink boots and long socks which covers most of her ankles.

"So what about you Dawn?" Satoshi counter questioned the girl now known as Dawn, "Are you ready for the Sinnoh Grand Festival? I heard the competition is gonna be pretty tough this year"

But Dawn simply waved it off along with her Piplup, "Hey no need to worry" she said her most common word, "I've been training a lot of new combinations with my Pokemons too. I think we'll be more than a match for anything my opponents can throw at me. Me and Piplup will be ready no matter how bad the odds are, ne? Piplup? (Pi Piplup!)" the little penguin Pokemon nodded proudly in response. "See? No worries"

"Hey but don't give yourself too much credit Dawn" Brock interrupted, "You've got to give Ash some praises too. He did teach you a lot of things about the basics after all. If it wasn't for him I think you'd still be running after your Pachirisu, right?"

"Oh I didn't teach her that much" Ash defended modestly, "All I taught to do was on how to capture Pokemons and using special attack moves. Besides, I think Dawn has grown a lot since we first met. I think she's really a great coordinator"

Immediately the girl that was spoken in topic began to blush on Ash's comment. "Uh… thanks… Ash" she replied a little flustered, "You… really think I'm a great… coordinator?"

"Of course!" came his instant reply, "You've trained really hard for the grand festival and you've become really strong in such a short time. And those ribbons you've got is proof of that as well" he gestured to the ribbon box that the girl had in her knapsack. "Those ribbons aren't just there for decorations Dawn. They're proof of your achievements and you should be proud of that"

The girl slowly opened up her ribbon box and starred at the five ribbons that she earned throughout the Sinnoh region. Ash was right… sometimes when other people look at trophies, they could only see a metallic object. But for those who earned their trophies, they were more than just metallic items that decorated their rooms. They were symbols…… proof of their accomplishments"

"T… thanks Ash…" the girl replied slightly flushed.

"But I've got to say that this is a surprise though" Brock said suddenly which caught their attention, "The Sinnoh grand festival was supposed to held at Sunnyshore city this week, but they moved it to the arena next to the Sinnoh league"

"Yeah, it is strange" Ash agreed, "They said they were moving it because of the storm that was coming, right?"

"Yeah, but I just think they're moving it there because they want to attract public attention" the squinty eyed boy theorized, "It must be something the Pokemon league authorities came up to sponsor both the Pokemon league and the Pokemon contest at the same time. But whatever the truth is, I'm sure that the Sinnoh stadium will be packed full when we get there"

"Hey, it wouldn't be the Sinnoh league if it wasn't full, right?" Ash chuckled back while he ate his buttered toast, "Besides, I don't mind. Having both battles and contest in one place makes it all the more interesting, right Piakchu? (Pika pika) Don't you think so Dawn?"

"Yeah!" was her reply, "Although I was kinda expecting to be participating in the contest already today ahehehehehe. I guess I really had my hopes up for nothing" and just while they were eating off on their meal, the famous Nurse Joy came to their table.

"Excuse me, Dawn?" asked the polite nurse, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your meal but I…" and before she could finish, Brock quickly went to his courtship mode to try and win her heart with his own lame ways.

"Nurse Joy! It is wonderful to see you time and time again!" he began with his lame made up pickup lines, "Your face shines brighter than the sun, the star can't compare to your beauty and your eyes blinds me with its magnificent glow! You are indeed one of great goddess in the world. You are the one that gacckkk! My… my… my… my broken ribs… ohhhh…" by the time before he could even finish his sentence, Croagunk, the toad Pokemon appeared and gave out poisoned jab the guy right on right the stomach. (Kishhheee) the poison Pokemon stated before pulling the love sick boy away from the gang. Ash and Dawn simply sweat drop back in return.

"Ahehehe… I guess that's Brock for you" Dawn added before turning her attention back to the young nurse.

"Oh um… anyway, Dawn" Joy continued, "I received a call from your mother, Johanna, last night"

"From mom?"

"Yes, she and I were friends back in the Sinnoh grand festival a few years ago" Joy explained, "She heard about the competition being moved so she wanted me to give you these tickets" she quickly pulled out three tickets from her pocket and handed it to them, "These tickets are for the train that will leave for the Pokemon league headquarters about two o'clock in the afternoon"

"Whoa! Awesome!" Dawn squealed with delight, "With this, we can make it to the Sinnoh league in just two days time instead of walking there for a whole week! Wow, I got to remember to thank mom for this ahahaha"

"This is great Dawn" Ash replied also equally happy of the shortcut they were given, "We'd better go pack up or we might miss the train!"

"I'm way ahead of you" and with that the two trainers quickly headed back to their respective rooms so that they may pack for the journey that was soon to come. With both the Sinnoh league tournament and the grand festival just around the corner our heroes must now prepare themselves for the battle that is yet to come.

**(Professor Rowan's laboratory)**

Professor Rowan, a brilliant scientist who specializes in the field of Pokemon was in his lab today petting several of his newly captured Pokemons. He was expecting three new Pokemon trainers from the neighboring villages to be here soon to receive their starter Pokemons so that they could begin their journey. It was tedious work at times but it was well worth it when they one day see that the boy that had walked into their labs were somewhere in the silver screen shouting out to his Pokemons.

And just when he was thinking of the new comers coming in, the beginners soon appeared from the main entrance with their faces brimming with youth. "Professor!" the three trainers swooped in catching the old man off guard.

"Oh, well you three must be the new trainers I've been hearing about" the professor nodded trying not to look fazed by their surprise entrance, "Here to come pick your starter Pokemons, correct?" they all nodded in unison, "Well then, I hope you made your choice, because I only have one of each. Pick very carefully because these Pokemons are going to be with you at the beginning of your journey"

But just as the kids were choosing their Pokemons and decided through rock-paper-scissors, one of the professor's assistant came in, "Professor, sorry to disturb you, but you have a phone call"

"Oh? Who is it from?"

"It's from a… professor… Takamura"

"Takamura? The excavator?" from the professor's reaction, the assistant could tell that he and the Takamura guy on the phone were old acquaintances. "I haven't heard from him in years. What does he want now?"

"He didn't say, sir. He just said that it was urgent"

"Alright, excuse me children" he pardoned himself out before turning to his assistant, "You take care of the rest here. I'll be back shortly" and with that he quickly approach the TV phone where it had the phrase 'voice only' printed on screen. "Hello, this is Rowan speaking"

"Nice to hear from you again, Row" came the voice on the other line, "How are you doing? Still cooped up in your lab as always?"

"Ah Takamura" the professor replied a little cheerful than before, "I see your voice hasn't changed, so that mean your face hasn't changed as well. Yes, I'm still in my lab researching about Pokemons. How about you? I haven't heard anything from you in three years. The last time I saw you, you were heading to the Johto region to excavate that site about the legendary Pokemons Ho-oh"

"Yes, well… things turned out ok there and not a lot of evidences were found" the excavator laughed back, "Anyway Rowan, I called you because I need you to do me a favor. Do you know about the ancient Goro-language?"

"You mean the prehistoric language spoken by the elders a hundred years ago? (Yup) Why of course. I know a lot about it. I'm actually quite fluent in it. Why?"

"Well, I've been doing a little work here in the Sinnoh region and found something quite extraordinary" Takamura shifted his position as he explained, "While I was looking for clues about the three legendary psychic Pokemon of the region, I discovered a pedestal with that language on it. As you already know, I'm not really good at translating it, so I was wondering if you could do it for me. It'll be a big help for me and my academy status"

"Well… I have a lot of research to carry on" Rowan replied a little unsure, "But I think I might be able to translate it for you in about a day or two"

"That's great!" Takamura cheered in delight, "I'm sending you the pictures right now. Thank you so much Row, I knew I could count on you. Call me back through this number when you find anything. See you soon, bye"

A few seconds later after Takamura hung up, a couple of pictures began to slide in through the TV phone's fax machine. "Hmm? Well this is interesting" professor Rowan stated as he looked at the pictures, "I haven't seen this language for some time now"

"Professor" the assistant called in, "The trainers have chosen their Pokemons. Shouldn't you say something to them?"

"Huh? Oh yes of course. On my way" and while waiting for the pictures to finish printing, the professor headed off to see the trainers to give them one last word of wisdom before they depart on their journey as Pokemon trainers.

**(Back at the train station) (11:45 AM)**

After Dawn had received her tickets to the Pokemon league, the gang decided to pack up and wait along the train station for their ride to their destination. The arena of the Sinnoh league and the grand festival. It wasn't common for two major events to be held on the same day much less the same area. But seeing that the gang didn't have authority over where it was held, they had little choice but to head there together.

But since the train wasn't coming in a few hours, Ash decided to have a little practice match to train his Pokemons for the upcoming battle. His Turtwig, Buizel, Pikachu, Gligar, Staravia and Chimchar were all there with him and they were almost ready for any match, any time, anywhere. Even though they had only been with him for a few months, Ash had to admit that these six Pokemons of his were the best batch he had trained yet. They were, strong, fast, street wise and rugged.

They had been practicing for this tournament ever since they met with Ash and they were proud to be his Pokemons.

"Alright then, everyone ready?" Ash spoke with his Pokemons which they all replied with a cheer. "Ok! Pikachu, thunderbolt, Turtwig, razor leaf, Buizel, aqua-jet, Gligar, X-scissor, Staravia, steel wing, Chimchar, flame wheel!" all six Pokemons immediately pushed their attacks against one another giving out everything that they've got. As their powers collided, a mighty explosion occurred but none of them were damaged. "Great work guys! Alright, let's practice one more time and we'll call it a day (cheer)"

And as Ash continued to train, Brock sat on the sidelines observing how much the boy had grown in such a short time. Three years ago, the boy barely knew a thing about Pokemon types or their attacks, but now three years smarter and stronger, the boy that he met in his gym was no longer present. Instead, he was replaced with a much more calm, perceptive and wise trainer. "Wow… Ash is really taking his training seriously" Brock stated as he stretched his back a little. His body was still sore from Croagunk's poison jab so he couldn't stand up. "But I don't think he's the only one excited" he motioned to Dawn who was also training on the other field next to the boy. "Dawn looks like she's trying to devise some new combinations"

And to the boy's truth, he was right. Dawn was indeed practicing some new combination attacks. "Alright team, you guys ready? (cheer)" her Pokemons consisted of Ambipom, Buneary, Pachirisu and Piplup. They had been through a lot together and never before had they failed her expectation. She had only began her Pokemon journey a few months ago along with Satoshi and little by little she becomes more experienced in battling. She trained really hard day and night just so that she could compete in the Sinnoh grand festival just like her mother.

But even though she knew much of the advance tactical thinking of Pokemon coordinating, she had to admit that she would never have gotten this far without Ash's help. The boy had been her mentor just right after she began her journey and together they had gone through so many adventures with one another. Going through time, passing through different worlds, heck she even experienced life threatening situations plenty of times. Sure, being with Ash was dangerous, but it was also fun and exciting. Never had she felt more alive than being close to this boy. Not only was he an excellent trainer, but there was just something about him that makes you want to admire him from the sides.

Unlike a lot of people here in the world, the boy really does standout amongst all of them. He had an aura that says 'look at me' and a spirit so bright that it makes an entire populace of a city look like a torch light.

"Alright Piplup, bubble beam! Buneary, ice beam!" the two Pokemons immediately combined their attack, creating a beautiful pattern of iced bubbles. "Ok, Ambipom, use swift!" immediately the monkey like Pokemon with two hand like tails gave out a flurry of hits against the bubbles, popping them out one by one. "Ok Pachirisu, use discharge!" and in a matter of seconds a beautiful array of electricity shot out, lighting the ice shards and reflecting them over and over again. "Alright! Great job everyone, here's some poffins for all of your hard work" the Pokemons gladly chowed down their favorite snack and left out a satisfying moan at the end of the treat. "You were all great, why don't you all go play for awhile? Meet you back with Takeshi in an hour ok?" the troupe nodded and quickly headed out to play some games of their own.

As Dawn's Pokemons began playing off at the park, the girl decided to sit back and relax for awhile. She had been training for weeks now with little progress and she had developed so many combinations that she practically had to list everything down on a book. She really thought that she was going to have her debut as a coordinator here in Sunnyshore city, but since the Grand Festival had been moved, her heart sank deep and all of her stress had gone away.

"Hey Dawn!" Ash called out, "You mind helping us out?"

"Hmm?" she walked over to find out what the boy needed, "What is it Ash?"

"Sorry, but I was wondering if you can help watch my Pokemons for awhile"

"Watch your Pokemons?" the girl tilted her head puzzled.

"Yeah, when I put Turtwig's razor leaf against Chimchar's flame thrower, I kind of find it hard to see which one is more powerful"

"But Chimchar's a fire type" Dawn pointed out the obvious, "Shouldn't it be obvious that his attacks are much stronger?"

"Yeah, I know that" Ash replied, "But I just thought of a cool way for Turtwig to battle against fire types. So could please just watch?" Dawn didn't really know why she was needed but she agreed to it none the less. As Ash took position he quickly ordered his two chosen Pokemons to dish out their specified attacks to one another. "Alright Turtwig use razor leaf, Chimchar use flame thrower!"

The attacks collided and obviously Chimchar's fire burned the leaves on touch, "Yup just like I thought, Chimchar's flame thrower is way more powerful considering the type advantage" but just when she thought it was over, something amazing happened. The fire that was burning suddenly shifted its route, going directly up. "Whoa… what the!?"

"Alright, I knew it!" Ash cheered, "Good work Turtwig, keep at it! Now send that fire away! (Turt turtwig!)" and with a powerful force, Turtwig immediately sent the fire away, but little did the guy know that he flung it directly back towards his owner. "AHHHH!!" Ash barely even had the chance to yell out in pain when the unexpected attack was sent right onto him. "Oh… nice flame thrower Chimchar… good job" he let out a puff of smoke and fell right back onto the ground like a sandbag.

"AH! Ash!" Dawn hastily made her way towards the boy with a worried expression on her face, "Ash, are you ok? Are you hurt?"

But surprisingly the boy simply let out a small chuckle, "Oh this is nothing" he replied wearily, "Compared to Pikachu's thunderbolt attack, this is nothing. Besides, I'm used to getting him by attacks already" no one could possibly disagree with that. During his adventures around the world, Ash had been electrocuted, burned, petrified, cut, beaten and even killed so many times that he could literally be called the cheater of death.

As the boy got back up, Dawn soon noticed that his face was completely blackened by the fire attack a minute ago. "You should go and wash your face. You look like you've just been cooked or something"

"Ahehehe… yeah I think I should"

"Come on, I'll show you to the wash area" she sighed out loud before escorting Ash towards the outdoor wash house.

"_It… is time…"_

"Huh?" the mysterious voice echoed in Dawn's head like a ringing tone. "Did you say something Ash?"

"Who? Me?" the boy pointed to himself, "I didn't say anything"

At first Dawn thought it might've been some sort of psychological contact from space or something, but when she noticed the radio on the Pokemon center window, she thought that it could've just been a sudden loud broadcast or something. "Oh well, I guess I must be hearing things. Come on"

"Hey you guys!" Brock called, "Meet you guys at the diner. I'll go get us some food for the trip" and without even waiting for an answer, the squinty eyed boy left.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When the two of them made it to the faucet area, Ash quickly took the liberty of washing his face. All the dust and particles that were on his eyes quickly faded away and the dark spots from the fire were all gone in a matter of minutes.

"Seriously Ash, sometimes, you're just too reckless" Dawn lectured as she stood there by his side, "Getting hit a few times is one thing but getting hit by a flame thrower like that can be dangerous"

But the boy simply waved it off, "Oh don't worry. You got to have a little excitement now and then, right? Sometimes it's always best to do the unexpected. Even though it was dangerous for me, it was still worth it. By using Turtwig's razor leaf, I could actually control a hot stream of fire and point it anywhere I want to. It's like having a big giant fan against an inferno"

"And already he's talking about strategy" Dawn sweat dropped ignoring the fact that the boy had changed the topic even before hand. "Here Ash, let me help you" but when she turned the knob of the faucet she accidentally turned it far too strong and allowed the water to gush right in like a mini wave. "Ah! Oh no!"

"Ahh! Dawn, stop it! Ouch! Hey! That hurts ouch!" the two of them tried to contain the water that was gushing out but it was simply too strong for either of them. By the time they were able to close the faucet, Ash was already soaking and dripping wet a lot more than he was supposed to be. "Oh great, now I'm soaked"

"Sorry Ash" the girl apologized as she handed him her napkin, "Here, wash yourself with this"

The boy gladly accepted her gesture and wiped his face clear of liquid. "Thanks Dawn. Although this is kind of funny ahehehehe, first I was burning up now I'm soaking wet ahehehehe" but just as the boy was busy scrubbing his face and his hair, Dawn suddenly noticed that the water on Ash's clothes had began sticking onto the boy's skin. At first she just thought that the boy had some muscles in him but after a closer inspection, she could see that Ash had abs. I mean layers of them! Dawn had to admit, the boy was probably the smallest kid with muscles that could compare to Hercules (Greek hero)

Right at that moment, Dawn suddenly began to get this funny feeling around her chest, like a strange warmth that surrounded her heart and massaged her inner soul. She put her hand on her chest and realized that her face was heating up. "Wha… what's this feeling in me. I… I'm burning up"

"Phew, I think I'll go and let Chimchar dry me up" Ash sighed as he handed back Dawn's napkin, "Here Dawn, come on let's go. We wouldn't want to be late for the train"

But the girl seemed to have taken a momentary froze when she received her napkin back. She was blushing madly and she could not tell why. "O… ok" she replied before following Ash back to the train station.

**(Pallet town) (Professor Oak's lab)**

Professor Samuel Oak, the number one leading scientist of the Kanto region was tending to his work on his computer that afternoon after a hearty breakfast. He was old but still retained much of his adult figure. He had many antique items stashed on his cabinet and a lot of Pokeballs in the shelves. He had no immediate jobs right now so he was just busy reviewing and giving out minor lectures on the computer.

"Well then that settles that" the old scientist stated as he sent another round of his work on the printer, "Now just to send this off to the committee and I'm free for the whole week. Oh boy I really need the rest" he stretched his aching shoulders a bit trying to get the pain to go away.

But after a few minutes later, his assistant popped in, "Professor, I'm done with the Pokemon chores now"

"Oh already? That was quick. Thank you Tracey" the old man replied cheerfully, "Thanks to you I was able to get a lot of work done this morning. I should be able to go ahead of the deadline for once"

"No problem professor" the assistant known as Tracey smiled back, "I'm just glad to help. Is that your latest work for the Pokemon research committee?" he gestured to the bunch of paper on the professor's hand.

"Why yes it is" he replied laughing, "Could you Pidgey-mail it for me? After this is done, I think I'll drop over by to Delia's place for a snack"

"Sure thing professor" Tracey immediately dropped his sketchbook down and took the paper and placed them all in a folder. "I'll have this sent in a few minutes" and with that he walked off.

But before the professor could go out and stretch his legs to the sky, he suddenly noticed that his computer was receiving a call. "Huh? What's this? Someone's calling?" he quickly click the icon and in a few seconds professor Rowan's picture came into view, "Oh, professor Rowan, this is a surprise"

"Good afternoon Samuel" Rowan replied seriously, "I'm sure you're probably busy so I'll get straight to the point"

"Why not at all" Samuel stated back with a smile, "I just finished off the last of my work to the committee so I should be free for the next whole week. Is something the matter?"

A strange silence came to Rowan before he started speaking again, "I don't really know how to explain this Samuel so I'll come clean. I just received a mail from an old acquaintance of mine. He's been excavating an old ruin here in the Sinnoh region and uncovered something that was made entirely out of solid rock"

"So? Aren't all ruins like that?"

"I thought that too, but when I saw these pictures, I thought that you should know" immediately, Rowan sent out the pictures that Takamura had sent to him in hopes of enlightening the professor. "Does any of these tapestries look familiar to you professor?"

As Samuel slowly scanned the pictures carefully, his eyes suddenly widened with horror and amazement, "This… these are old Goro-language. They haven't been around for more than three billion years!"

"That's not all professor" Rowan clarified, "After scanning through all the pictures, I found one that might interest you" when the last picture revealed itself, Samuel felt like his heart had just exploded upon an impact so extraordinary that it shook his very essence. "Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you Samuel?"

"This… this is… this is what my grandfather was researching" he muttered in silence, "The End of the world. The Embodiment of the twelve"

"Yes……" Rowan nodded nervously, "I contacted professor Birch from Hoenn, professor Elm from Johto and professor Ivy from the Orange Islands. They've all agreed to come and the committee has agreed for the continued research, if you're willing to come. I've already packed my thing and will be leaving Sandgem town in a matter of minutes. We've all agreed to meet up at Jubilife city by later this evening. I hope to see you there too"

"Are you kidding!?" Samuel said almost too shocked, "I wouldn't miss this for the world! Wait for me Rowan, I'll be there in a matter of hours!" and without even waiting for a reply, the old man closed his computer and began packing his things. He rushed outside get some of his belongings and some Pokeballs just in case of protection.

"Ah hey professor" said Tracey as he reentered the room, "I just sent your work. Is there anything I can…"

"Tracey, good timing!" Samuel interrupted, "I need you to book a flight for me to the Sinnoh region! The earliest one possible! Hurry!"

"The Sinnoh region? But that's too far sir"

"No time for arguments! Just find us a way to reach Jubilife city as fast as you can!"

"Y… yes professor! Right away!"

**(Train station waiting area) (01:45 PM)**

Ash and his companions were at the train station. By the time they got there, the train was there as well unloading its previous passengers and loading them with new ones. There were a total of nine carriages dis-cluding the engine and coal supply cart of course and two extra carriages for supplies and other goods that were to be sent to other cities and towns. Six of the nine carriages were made for passengers and the other three were used as diners which were supplied with the latest dish the Sinnoh region had to offer. Some would call it the business class of rails and tracks.

"First call for train 101!" said the conductor of the train, "First call for train 101, bound for the Pokemon league! Everyone aboard!"

As the announcement was given the entire populace of the station began cramming themselves into the train trying to find the best seats possible. Although there were only a few people, Ash could tell that everyone that was getting on board were either trainers or coordinators. Anyone else would either just be spectators or breeders.

But before the gang could board the train, Brock recommended that they made a little call to Johanna to tell them that they were on their way. They didn't want Dawn's mom to get worried just because they forgot to call her before they left.

The phone on the other side rang for a few minutes before Johanna finally picked up, "Hello, Johanna speaking… huh? Oh Dawn, it's you sweetie"

"Hi mom!" Dawn said cheerfully back, "Sorry we didn't call last night, Ash and I were out training last night so we didn't get a chance to use the phone"

"That's alright dear" Johanna replied with a cheerful face, "Just knowing that you're safe is enough for me. By the way, I heard that the Sinnoh grand festival got moved again to the Pokemon league area. I was really excited about the match and this is quite a surprise"

"Yeah me too mom" Dawn agreed, "But anyway, I called you because we'll be leaving in a couple of minutes"

"That's great sweetie, but remember: Never underestimate your opponents in the match" she warned, "Everyone you meet there will all be talented and skilled. There's no reason for you to hold back ok"

"Oh come on mom, no need to worry, right?"

"Dawn… you know that when you say that, that's when I worry the most"

"Hey don't worry Johanna" Ash came in, "Dawn's been training for this match for a long time now. She's worked really hard on this. I'm sure she'll do just great in the grand festival. You can count on it" but unconsciously, Ash's face suddenly came slightly closer to Dawn's face than necessary. His cheeks were touching her shoulder slightly and without any warning whatsoever, the girl yelped slightly to herself as her face turned slightly flushed.

This of course did not escape the notice of Johanna. "Why thank you Ash. I'm sure of that since you trained her yourself right? I guess I shouldn't be worried after all"

"That's right" Brock agreed, "I'm sure the competition will be tough but I'm sure Dawn will find a way to overcome them. (horn sound) Well, it looks like they're boarding now. We'll go on ahead first Dawn, see ya there"

"Y… yeah" the girl replied before seeing Ash and Brock off.

After they were out of sight, Johanna immediately grew out a sly grin on her lips and her eyes became that of a chibi type, "Hmm hmm… Ash's become quite a man hasn't he?" she cooed to her daughter like some kind of snake.

The question immediately caught Dawn unprepared and off guard, "Huh? Wha wha what?!" she stuttered blushing.

"Oh my, Dawn, why is your face all red? Are you sick?"

"What? Nonononononono, of course not!" the girl was talking so fast that she could've beaten Tyler in a speaking contest, "I, I'm just tired that's all ahehehehe"

Johanna really had to fight an urge to pry something more from her daughter but seeing that she wasn't going to admit anything right now she had to force herself to drop it off. "Oh well, I'm glad that you've managed to find some great friends on your adventure Dawn. I was really worried when I heard that your bike was destroyed when you got Piplup"

"Ahehehe… yeah… that was really something huh ahehehehe" Dawn let out a small sweat drop behind her head knowing full well who was responsible for destroying her bike. "Anyway mom, I'm really glad that I've made it this far. But…… I don't think I would've been able to make it here on my own" this of course made Johanna raise a brow of question to her sentence, "Back when I was on my losing streak, I really thought that I wasn't cut out to becoming a coordinator. But here I am now, participating for the grand festival. I wished you were here to see me, but I guess you're stuck at home huh"

"Yes dear, but don't worry. I already planned to have all my friends come by to watch you perform. I know you've been through a lot Dawn, but know that I'm always proud of you no matter what happens. If you do win the grand festival, I might even buy you a new dress for the competition tee hee. Oh that reminds me. Since I know that you'll be thinking hard on what to wear I sent your old luggage to the Pokemon center at the Pokemon league"

"Ahehehe… thanks mom. You always know what I want"

"Oh by the way, how are you getting to the stadium?" Johanna asked, "The last time I checked, the only road leading there was still under repair"

"Oh don't worry, we'll be traveling by train, the one you gave us tickets to"

"Huh? I don't remember sending you…"

"Last call for train 101 bound for the Pokemon league stadium! We leave in fifteen minutes!" the conductor shouted out as the train blew out it horn to signal the passengers. "Last call for train 101 bound for the Pokemon league stadium!"

"Uh oh! Got to go mom! I'll call you in three days, bye!"

"Oh Dawn, wait a minute! What ticket are…" and with great haste the girl hung up and dashed right towards the train along with her companions not knowing what her mother's last words were.

As Dawn made it to the train she immediately noted that Ash and Brock were all there waiting for her, "Sorry I'm late guys, I must've been on the phone longer than I thought"

"That's ok" Ash waved it off, "The train hasn't left yet, come on!" and with that, they quickly head towards the forward ramp leading to one of the carriages at the rear end of the train. But just before they got on board, another one of the passengers suddenly bumped onto Dawn, making her slip off. She should've hit the pavement below her, but luckily Ash was there to catch her when she fell. "You ok Dawn!?"

"Y… yeah"

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Ash blammered to the trainer, but then suddenly, he knew instantly who he was talking to. "Wait a second… Paul!?"

The purple haired boy known as Paul jerked his head around with that permanent scowl on his face. "Oh, it's you again" He groaned boringly, "What are you guys doing here?"

"That's supposed to be my line" Ash grunted, already getting ticked off just seeing the boy's face. The two of them were more than just rivals. They were practically mortal enemies like the Serviper and Zangoose. They couldn't stand each others faces and there was no way in hell they were gonna share the same train together.

Paul wanted to say something back but he simply did not have the time or the reason to say anything. So instead of continuing this little charade, he turned his back on the gang and walked into the train. Brock saw this and knew right away that he must've been here to compete for the Sinnoh league as well, "Well I'm not surprised to see him here" the squinty eyed boy began, "Knowing Paul, he's here to join the Sinnoh league as well. Out of all the trainers I've seen so far, I think he's going to be toughest one to beat"

"Grrr…" Ash gritted through his teeth like a sawmill, "Just looking at his face already makes me mad (Pika…chu!) I knew I had to face him one of these days but at the Sinnoh league… man, talk about the chances"

"Uh… Ash" Dawn motioned, "You can let go of me now" a moment later the boy realized that he had been holding Dawn's waist and arm from her fall.

"Huh? Oh yeah… sorry" the boy apologized, "Come on, let's go see to our seats" but just he let go of the girl, Dawn suddenly felt a slight pang of disappointment stabbed through her heart. She began to feel a bit uneasy and her heart felt like it was being put atop of cooking grill making it beat faster and faster.

Just as Ash was about to step in, the conductor stopped him, "Hold a minute there young man" he said in his adult tone, "This train is only for trainers and coordinators only. Kids like you should be in the front seats"

"Hey! We are trainers and coordinators!" Ash clarified feeling a bit insulted, "I'm Ash from Pallet town and I'm on my way to the Sinnoh stadium"

"Yeah right" the guy replied rudely, "If you really are a trainer than I would've heard about you dozens of time. Show me your ticket so I can direct you to your carriage, please"

"My ticket?" Ash said puzzled before remembering, "Oh yeah, I got it right here" he quickly showed the man the ticket to which he scanned it hastily. But once the guy got a taste of what was on that small piece of paper his eyes widened with horror.

"G… g… g… oh… my… y… y… y… your… Ash Ketchum?" the guy stuttered to which the boy nodded back confusingly, "Forgive me for my previous disrespect sir!" the conductor bowed down suddenly which frightened all of them, "Your carriage is the third one before the last. There's a mini-Pokemon center in between so if you want to have any of your Pokemons checked in, just talk to the Nurse Joy there and she'll handle the rest! Hey, you three over there!" he called to the bus boys at the carriage, "Escort these guests to the back train immediately! (to Ash) Welcome aboard train 101 sir. I hope you enjoy your stay here sir!" and with that, the guy vanished to his station to conduct the preparation for the trip.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When the gang made it to their carriage they were amazed to see that their place was way bigger than the ones up front. There were eight large air-conditioned rooms all connected with a single three man size hallway and a lounge at the center, a bathroom on both end of the carriage for both men and women and for every ten minutes, a security enforcer will patrol the hall making sure that no one interrupts the VIPs.

As the gang entered their room they were amazed on how truly spacious it was. There were two bunk beds for the guests, a small sleeping point for small sized Pokemons, two changing rooms connected with a closet, a TV with its own antenna connection and a window that had a great view of the entire Sinnoh valley. After one whiff of the place the three trainers truly felt like they were VIPs in a golden chariot taking them to a secluded palace atop Mt. Coronet.

"Wow… look at this view!" Dawn gestured as she approach the window, "You can see Sunnyshore gym from here!" she pointed to the lighthouse near the gym was supposedly be. "And look, I can see the lighthouse too!"

"Man, Johanna really pulled us one this time!" Ash added as he checked the closet, "This place is even better than I thought. It's even got a sleeping place for Pikachu ahehehe" he quickly noted Pikachu jumping onto a small soft pillow near the bunk bed. But after he made himself comfortable, Piplup and Brock's Happiny suddenly jumped in to join the fun. "And it looks like everyone is having fun too"

"I got to say, this place is a lot roomier than the ones up front" Brock motioned to the soft bed, "I call the top bunk!" and without even waiting for his friends to reply, he quickly jumped onto the second bunk of the bed and pulled his bag in.

"I call the second top!" Ash called in before putting his bag up on the second bunk of the other bunk bed.

"Aww no fair you two!" Dawn groaned, "I wanted the top bed!"

"You snooze you lose Dawn hehehehehehe" the boy replied brushing his nose. But just as they were settling into their new temporary home, one of the valets of the train entered. "Huh?"

"Excuse me" he apologized for the interruption, "Sorry to disturb you, but are you the guests here?" they all nodded in response, "Well, sorry for the inconvenience but I'm afraid you'll have to share this room with another VIP member. You see, the other rooms are already full due to the capacity, so the staff apologizes for this sudden change"

"Uh, we don't mind, really" Ash answered, "We're used to strangers so it's no problem"

"Splendid" the valet then turned his head outside for a moment before bringing the fourth guest in, "Please come in" but when the door opened up the gang's eyes widened with amazement on who their roommate was.

Standing in front of them was a fiery red head girl wearing a purple shirt, covered by an orange vest and wearing aqua blue jeans tightened slightly by a buckled belt. On her foot she wore hiking boots which covered most of her ankles but her most unique piece of accessory was her funky shades which were placed on top of her head.

"Zoey?!" the gang said in unison.

The girl immediately known as Zoey looked also equally surprised as them as she entered the room, "You guys? Dawn! Ash! Brock! How are you? Long time no see" they quickly exchanged greetings with one another.

"Wow Zoey, I didn't expect to see you here of all places" Dawn gave her one friendly hug, "It's like a dream come true. Where've you been? How are you? Have you been eating well? Did you make some new combinations? Did you catch some new Pokemons?"

"Easy Dawn" Brock motioned, "Give the girl some breathing room. She just came after all"

"Thanks Brock" Zoey thanked for the gesture. "It's been a pretty rough road getting here. I had to run all the way back to Sunnyshore city to get to the station, I even thought I wasn't gonna make it"

"Really?" Ash asked quizzled, "Where did you run from?"

The young red head slowly put her bag down for a minute before motioning to the gang to explain her journey, "I was actually running from the mountain that was supposed to take me to the Pokemons league stadium two days ago. I was supposed to take a bus that went right through the mountain, but when I got there, there was a cave in which trapped me on the other side of the mountain"

"Wow, that must've been some experience" Brock said slightly relieved that she wasn't hurt.

"Yeah it was" came her reply, "But anyway. Since I couldn't get through the mountain, I had to stay in the nearby Pokemon center for awhile. Then luckily my parents sent me this ticket for this train trip going to the Pokemon stadium. Pretty lucky don't you think? You wouldn't believe how much I've been running just to get to the station. I just arrived here a few minutes actually"

"Wow, you must've been running for a long time" Ash said amazed, "Did you ever stop to eat or rest?"

"Nope, I was eating as I was running" the girl replied a little embarrassed, "I didn't even have breakfast this morning either ahehehehehe"

"Well we can't have that now, can we?" Brock gestured as he moved his hand to his bag, "I bought a couple of sandwiches from the train station before we left. You can have some if you want"

"Thanks Brock" usually Zoey wouldn't really accept such gestures of kindness, but the situation was pretty much desperate. She gladly took one of the offered pieces and chowed it down faster than a Munchlax on a eating spree. As she continued eating, the gang couldn't help but watch with a sweat drop behind their backs. At most times, Zoey was looked as a graceful figure with a brilliant mind. She was well respected and had an aura that was to be admired by all. Even Ash had a certain respect for her, but right now her actions seemed rather vulgar-ish and out of character.

"Wow… she must really be hungry" Dawn whispered to Ash to which he nodded in agreement. "I've never seen Zoey like that before"

"That makes the two of us" Ash added.

When the girl finally finished her meal, she immediately let out a small moan of satisfaction from her stomach. "Phew… man… that hit the spot. Sorry about that. I guess I was hungrier than I thought I was"

"That's ok" Brock waved it off, "You should see Ash when he goes into an all you can eat buffet table at the restaurant ahehehehe. He can be quite a handful"

The boy in question blushed back, "Yeah, I guess that's true" he admitted flatly, "It's just that when I see a lot of food I kinda get hungry all together. It's a habit of mine ahehehehehe"

And just as they continued with their minor topics, the speaker of the train buzzed in, "Attention passengers of train 101. We'll now be departing from the station in five minutes. The crew are still loading some cargo at the rear carriage. The final destination of this train will be the Pokemon stadium at the north east edge of Sinnoh region. On the way we will be making a stop at two nearby stations to re-supply and unload. The estimated time of arrival at the destination will be a total of 36 hours, a total of one and a half day. We should be arriving at the final destination at 02:20 PM. For your entertainment, we provided a local TV network on all carriages. We hope you have a comfortable and safe trip, thank you"

"Whoa, 36 hours" Dawn repeated, "That was even longer than I expected. I don't know what to even do during that time"

"Well it's better than walking through the road for a whole week" Zoey added, "The Mountains really can be dangerous for anyone who goes through that place. I even had a hard time just trying to navigate through the place. I got lost so many times that it was a struggle just to make it back to the Pokemon center"

"Well we might as well settle in" Brock recommended, "Looks like we won't be going anywhere for awhile so we might as well get some rest" the gang all immediately agreed and slowly made their way to their respective spots and rest for a bit. They needed the strength anyway.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

But little did the gang know that outside the train, three familiar villains were sneaking up onboard in the sneakiest way manageable. Team Rocket, the self proclaimed super villains that have been stalking Ash's every movement had disguised themselves as bus boys that were loading some cargo into the rear cart of the train.

Just as they finally got into the train, they immediately took out their hats to relax a bit, "Phew, we're finally in. All this carrying is making lose too much weight for one day" said James the blue haired Team Rocket member.

"You could use the exercise boyo" the talking Meowth who also serves as the team's mascot replied as he took off his hat as well, "It beats paying and using the gym equipment right?"

"Hmm, but it looks like the twerps are in the VIP lounge" Jessie, the self proclaimed leader of the group stated as she pushed in the last of the cargo, "Come on you two. We can sneak in through the backdoor" but just as she approach the door leading to the next carriage, Wabuffet, the oddly shaped Pokemon appeared once again out of her Pokeball. "(Wabuffet) Don't just stand there Wabuffet, help me pull this lock off!" the entire team quickly began yanking the door lock but sadly they didn't exactly have the strength of Prometheus.

"Step aside, puny humans" Meowth declared, "And leave this kind of work for the professionals" with a motion of his paw, the talking cat began picking the lock with his long nails using it like some kind of lock-pick that were used on TV. "Gently… gently now… ok now a little bit to the right and… (click) bingo! Now this is what I call B and E!"

"Great work Meowth!" Jessie cheered, "Now come on, let's get to work" but just when they were about to break in and enter, some of the real workers came in and dump some cargo on the sides.

"Is that the cargo?" said the first one as he gestured to the iron container that they had just carefully put in. "Looks pretty big"

"Yeah, the guards for this package will be picked up at the second station" said the other, "We don't know what's in it, but the Pokemon research committee wants it delivered to them as soon as possible"

"I heard they even hired a Pokemon ranger to see its safety. Heh, whatever is inside that thing must be worth a lot more than we could afford in two life times"

"You got that right. Come on let's get out of here"

"Alright Joe, that's the last of them!" he shouted, "Tell the guys to move out!" and a few seconds later, the train began moving and the take off procedures weren't as smooth as they expected it to be. And sadly enough, Team Rocket was right under a bunch of crates that looked like it was packed with Miltank manure. But luckily for them, the sound of the train's horn blocked their screams of pain.

And with that the train went off, bringing our young heroes to the Sinnoh league… but little did they know, that getting there… was going to be a lot harder than they expected.

**(This would be the perfect time for the main theme song of the movie ahehehehehe)**


	2. A Track Closer To Home

Chapter 2: A Track Closer to Home

**Chapter 2: A Track Closer to Home**

**(Train 101, bound for the first pit stop) (03:02 PM)**

As Ash and his companion rest their energy at the train that was taking them to the Sinnoh stadium, the boy decided to get a little breather through the window side of the room. "Man, the view here is great. I can't believe we're already on our way to the Sinnoh league (Pika pika) Yeah, I know. I feel like it's only been a few months since I came here to the Sinnoh region. (pause) After battling all those gym leaders, trainers and competing in Pokemon contests, I'm really glad I came here, huh Pikachu? (Pika-chu)"

But as the boy looked again through the window, he quickly drew the attention of Zoey who seemed rather impressed on how the boy was doing. "It looks like Ash is really excited about the Sinnoh league huh" she gestured to Brock who was tucking his Happiny to sleep.

"Yeah, he's always excited" the young Pokemon breeder replied, "Back when I first met him, he barely knew the first thing about Pokemons. He really matured over the years. I even forgot how he looked like back then"

"He must've been one reckless trainer back then"

"Not really" Brock corrected, "He may be a little rugged at times but he always has an open mind. He tries to learn everything he can and processes them into his own original ideas. Just like some of the techniques he mimicked from you Zoey. He converted contest battle combinations into battle strategies and tactics that greatly improve his skill. Out of all the trainers I've faced, only Ash surprises me the most"

"I know what you mean Brock" Dawn added, "Ash always comes up with new battle tactics everyday. I got to admit that most of my combinations and strategy comes from observing him. I wonder where he gets it all sometimes"

"Knowing Ash, he probably just makes it up as he goes" Brock joked to which they all agreed laughing.

But their sudden laugh caught the boy's attention along with his Pikachu, "Hey, what's so funny you guys?"

"Oh nothing" Dawn waved it off. "Just thinking out loud, that's all"

"Anyway…" Brock consulted, "Why don't we check out the lounge for a minute? I hear they serve great snacks there too"

"Food? Alright, I'm there" as always, Ash was easily tempted by the food. There were only two things in this world that attracted the boy's attention: One would be food and the second would be Pokemon battles. The kid was a simple guy with simple needs to fill his heart's content. "Come on Pikachu, let's go see what they got to eat around here"

"And off he goes, like a bullet" Dawn sighed, "I guess that's Ash for ya. Always going ahead of the others without thinking about the risks that's on the other side (sigh) Oh well, I guess that's one of the good things about him. I mean, who else could run that fast when you hear the ice cream truck"

**(On top of the mountain overlooking train 101)**

Just right above the tracks where the train was traveling through, a group of strangers riding Staraptors and Pidgeys wearing black hoodies, long stretchy pants, and armor plate shoulder pads were watching the train as it passed. They did not look like bandits or pirates, but they were indeed lightly armed with swords and spears. In fact, they looked almost like modern day knights. As they continued to gaze upon the traveling train, one of the knights riding a majestic Pidgey wearing a white hoodie came in. A wild guess would say that this guy was their leader.

"They're here" he muttered out silently to the passing train, "Right on time as always" suddenly, his cell phone began to ring. "Hello?" he answered, "Yes we see it (chatter) No, you were right. The package is unguarded at the moment. (chatter) Right, retrieving the item is top priority, everything else is secondary, I understand. (chatter) Don't worry about the trainers, I'll make sure they go unharmed…… at least some of them that is" and with that he hung up and turned his attention back to his soldiers, "Troops, let's move out! (cheers!) For the world and for the human race!" with a single motion of his hand, the entire company began swarming up into the air in pairs of threes and fours. There were hundreds, maybe even thousands of knights at that very mountain.

"Sir, what are our orders?" came a young female officer also wearing a white hoodie.

"Our orders remain unchanged" the leader of the company replied putting his cell phone back into his pockets, "Retrieve the 'Eye' at all cost. The future of our world depends on it. But I doubt having the entire company take this task is a little too much for them. We need to move fast if we want to get a step ahead of our enemies. I'm trusting you on the recovery mission Shani. Take your group and meet us at the rendezvous point after you recovered the 'Eye' I'll have the rest of the men search for the other one"

"Understood sir" the girl known as Shani replied loyally, "I won't let you down" and with that she flew off with her Staraptor, following the train tracks.

"I know you won't" the leader of the group muttered as she left, "Because if you do… none of us will live to tell about it anyway"

**(Back in the train)**

As Ash and his companions departed from their room, they immediately arrived at the carriage lounge where all the VIP guests were relaxing altogether. There were plenty of sofas and couches along the center of the room, but they were a little shorter than the gang had expected. These must've been only for snack time purposes and never a full course meal. There were also several coffee tables set up for small beverages and vending machines to help keep the guests full during their trip.

"Whoa, this place is awesome!" Ash yelled out as he gladly jumped onto one of the soft couches, "This place almost feels like a five star hotel room in Jubilife city"

"Yeah, I can say that they didn't spare any expense when they made this place" Brock eyed around absolutely impressed by the designs of the carriage. "Look, they even have vending machines for snacks and a café for coffee and tea. Hey, anybody want some refreshments?"

"I'll take a glass of lemonade, please!" came Ash's instant answer.

Brock then turned his head over to the girls who were standing idly by, "I'll have tea please" Zoey requested, "And I'll have apple juice" Dawn added.

As the squinty eyed boy went on to get some drinks for his friends, Dawn and Zoey decided to join Ash on the sofa to relax for a bit. After all that training they've been doing, they rightly deserve their rests. As they made themselves comfortable in their positions, Zoey decided to start a little topic to get the mood up. They needed the morale for the fights that is to come anyway. "So Ash, are you still practicing some of that combination that I showed you back in Hearthome city?"

The boy slowly got to a proper sitting position before answering, "Yeah I have. But there are still some problems with the movement. I tried using quick attack but I don't think speed is really one of Turtwig's traits. That's why I tried creating one of my own original techniques"

"That's ok" Zoey replied, "My Glameow also had problems in doing it the first time. Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it. Oh that reminds me, did you happen to battle the gym leader of Sunnyshore city?"

"Yeah I did" Ash answered, "He was the last gym leader I needed to beat for the Pokemon league. Here, I even got the badges to prove it" he quickly pulled out a small slim box which contained all the gym badges that he collected during his time here in the Sinnoh region. It was long and tedious work, but after much patience, training and dedication he finally made it here to the final destination for all Pokemon trainers of the Sinnoh region. The Sinnoh league…

"And I won my last contest at Sunnyshore city too" Dawn said proudly as she opened her own box which were filled with the five ribbons that she had rightfully earned from various Pokemon contests here in the Sinnoh region. "I never thought that I'd actually make it but here I am… hehehehehe. How about you Zoey? How many ribbons have you earned?"

The red head coordinator gladly pulled out her own container and showed them the fruits of her hard labor. "I won a lot of contests myself. The last contest I went to was the one near Floaroama town. Ever since you guys left for Ash's glacier badge I haven't seen you guys since"

"Yeah, we kinda took a lot of side trips during our travel" Ash rubbed the back of his head a little embarrassed knowing well that his side trips were mostly because they were either lost during their travels in the wild. "Me and Brock like to go sightseeing a lot ahehehe"

"Yeah right" Dawn mumbled silently to herself.

A few minutes later, Brock returned along with the beverages that his friends requested from him. "Here you go guys. A little treat, on me. You guys should conserve your energy for the upcoming match. By the time we get to the Sinnoh stadium, you'll have four days to warm up and practice on your techniques. I'm pretty sure that the opponents you'll be facing there will not be second rate trainers"

"Oh, do you know how the Sinnoh tournament works, Brock?" Ash said quizzled. And to everyone's surprise, the squinty eyed boy pulled out the Sinnoh guide book from his back pocket and turned its pages to the Sinnoh league.

"Well, according to the guide book that I got from the station, the Sinnoh league will consist of three rounds. The preliminary rounds which is used to round off all the trainers, the semi-final rounds which consists of sixteen trainers and of course, the final round which consists of only four trainers. It says here that the semi-final round will be a four on four battle and the final round will be a six on six full battle. I'd say the stakes for this match is pretty high"

"Whoa, that means I'll to be fighting uh…" Ash stammered and began counting with his fingers, but even that wasn't enough for him. "Ah! Who cares? I'll just go in there and beat all of them, no prob! Right Pikachu? (Pi pikachu!)"

"Well, he's certainly a lively one" Zoey chuckled feeling confused about the boy who was blabbering about his own dreams of victory. "We haven't even reached the stadium and already he's excited"

"Ahehehe… that's Ash for ya" Dawn said with a sweat drop on her back, "Never a dull moment when you're with him"

But just when they were laughing along, another voice came into the picture. "Well, I knew I heard a familiar voice somewhere, but I never thought it would be here" as the gang turned their heads around they noticed a boy probably about Dawn's age wearing a green and white T-shirt, long pants and a wicked semi-spiky hairstyle. "Hey there… Deedee"

"Kenny!?" the gang said in unison.

"Kenny, is that you?" Dawn implied, "What are you doing here?"

"I was just about to ask you guys the same question" the boy replied holding a grin, "But I reckon that you're probably here for the same reason as everyone else on this train huh"

"You're going to participate in the grand festival, aren't ya?" Ash knew right away since there was no other point of being on this train. "So, do you have your ribbons?"

"You bet!" the boy gladly showed them his own ribbons, "I won my last one near Solaceon town last month. Once I finished, I've been trying to find a way to the Sinnoh stadium. It's been hectic. The ferries won't take me there, the buses were always full and trying to fly over the mountains can be extremely dangerous. I had a hard time just getting back to Sunnyshore city"

"You too?" Zoey entered, "I had a hard time myself. It's been pretty tiring just trying to get through the mountain of challenge"

"So where were you during the last few days?" Dawn asked.

"Well, after I came back from the mountains, I decided to take a break in the Pokemon center" Kenny continued, "I thought that it would be impossible for me to get to the Sinnoh grand festival now, but then suddenly my mom gave me this cool ticket to the Sinnoh stadium. I mean talk about a change of luck!"

"Really? Mine too!" Dawn squealed, "My mom sent a ticket for me, Ash and Brock for this ride to the Sinnoh stadium. I guess this is something our moms have in common huh" they both chuckled it off before joining the rest on the sofas.

"So Ash" Kenny continued, "I heard that you defeated Volkner of the Sunnyshore gym. Is that true?"

"Yeah! He was the last person I needed to fight before I could participate in the Sinnoh league" he gestured to his badge pack which Kenny took the liberty of viewing. "He was pretty tough to beat. I had to put all my Pokemons to the limit and use all my combination strategies to defeat him"

"Volkner?" Zoey said slightly surprised, "You mean THE Volkner of Sunnyshore gym? But that's impossible! I heard that Volkner has never been defeated for over three years now. I thought he retired"

"He was" Brock added, "But Ash managed to convince him to come out of retirement and battle again with him. It was amazing how the two of them fought. I was so amazed that I even forgot that it was just another gym battle"

"That gym badge you got there is pretty rare Ash" Kenny gestured to the small light badge that Ash had in his container. "You won't see many of these in the Sinnoh stadium, that's for sure. You'd better take extra care of that"

"Thanks Kenny, I will" Ash replied before putting his container back in his pocket.

**(Jubilife city airport) (06:20 PM)**

Professor Rowan, the head scientist of Pokemons in the Sinnoh region was waiting patiently in the arrival section of the airport that evening along with all of his assistants. He was waiting for professor Oak and several other scientists from different regions to meet up with him for the discovery of the century.

After a few minutes, he suddenly noticed three figures heading his way from the arrival port. They were all wearing white lab coats like his and just by looking at their poise they could tell that these people were important.

When they finally met up with one another, Rowan gave out a slight bow to them, "It's nice to see you again, professor Birch, professor Elm and professor Ivy" he gestured, "I hope your flight was smooth"

"It was" the girl known as Ivy answered, "But I was expecting to see professor Oak here. Is he not coming?"

"He's coming but unfortunately his flight was delayed for a couple of minutes" Rowan explained to them, "He'll be joining us soon. By the way professor Elm, how goes your research on the geography of Mahogany town? I'm sorry you had to postpone it due to my call"

"That's ok" the head scientist from the Johto region replied tiringly. The weight of his backpack must've been a lot heavier than it looked. "I didn't really have much to go on anyway so I allowed my assistants to do the work for me. What about you professor Rowan? I heard that you were researching on the magnetic field of Mt. Coronet. It must be quite a topic"

"Yes it is" he nodded, "I found out that Mt. Coronet is actually a dead volcano. The ashes from its inner mountain became hardened and with that, it increases the strength of any rock type Pokemons in the area. That's why a lot of steel and rock types gather at that place all the time"

"Well, that is an interesting topic Rowan" came a new voice to which they all know very well.

"Professor Oak!" Birch and Elm said in unison.

"It's a pleasure to see you again in person professor Oak" Elm gladly shook the professor's hand the moment it came in range. "It's been a long time since we've last met like this"

"Yes, three years to be exact, right Elm" Samuel returned with a smile, "The last time I saw you was at the Pokemon research society meeting party back in the Indigo Plateau. Oh by the way, this here is my assistant, Tracey Sketchit. He's from the Orange Archipelago"

"Hi, nice to meet you all" the young Pokemon watcher greeted with a polite bow.

"Well anyway Rowan" professor Oak turned his attention to the man who brought them all together here. "Shall we head for the dig site now or do we have to wait for someone else?"

"Actually professor, I won't be taking you to the dig site" Rowan answered as he gestured to the person behind him, "He will..." he pointed to a man with a long white beard and clever looking glasses "Everyone, I'd like you to meet professor Takamura of the Hearthome academy. He was the one who uncovered the Goro pedestals near Celestic town. Professor, I'd like you to meet my old college friends. Professor Birch from the Hoenn region, professor Ivy from the Orange Islands, professor Elm from the Johto region and of course you must know professor Oak of Kanto"

"It's a pleasure to meet you all" Takamura greeted, "I apologize for calling you all out here on the earliest flight possible but seeing that you are all expert in the ancient Goronian civilization, I thought that you could enlighten me on some of the artifacts that we uncovered from the ruins"

"The honor is all ours professor Takamura" professor Oak returned the shake, "I'm just excited that's all. There hasn't been a discovery about the Goronian civilization in more than twenty years now"

"Goronian?" Tracey mimicked a little confused, "I've never heard anything about that before"

"Well I'm not surprise seeing how young you are" Takamura chuckled, "Only very few know the existence of Goro and its people. You won't be able to find histories about them in public libraries that's for sure. Anyway, I'm sure that you all must want to see the site as soon as possible. If you'll follow me, I'll lead you to the truck that will take us there"

But as they walked through the check in area of the airport, Tracey began to grow a little curious on what the scientists were all interested about. To attract so many brilliant minds from all around the country, could only mean that something big was about to happen. "Professor Oak, can you tell me anything about the Goronians? This is the first time I've ever heard about them"

"Well it's not easy to explain Tracey" Samuel replied, "My grandfather worked on that case about 60 years ago. He and the other scientists of his time spent countless days working on the Goronian legacy and its secrets. But since there was very little to go on, they had to close the case before they could even get started on the plan. It's been my life long dream of discovering a new Goronian history. This might as well be the find of the century!"

"Wow… this is the first time I ever saw the professor this excited" Tracey thought, "I wonder what the Goronians are"

**(Back on train 101) (First pit-stop) (06:35 PM)**

A few hours after the train departed from the main station, it soon arrived at the first length of the journey at a small remote town in the wilderness of the Sinnoh regions. It was a small mining town near the edge of the mountain where the soils were as hard as iron and the weather timid and dry. There were only very few irrigation ditch made around, connecting to the reservoir on the east side of town, but there was plenty enough to go by.

"Looks like this is the first stop" Ash muttered as he noted the train being put to a stop. He was looking through the window of his room and saw several more trainers entering the train's front carriage. There were also some goods and supplies being loaded and unloaded at the same time, which could only mean profit for the town and its inhabitants. "Whoa… looks at all of those trainers"

"They're probably here for the same reason as us as well" Kenny added as he joined the boy, "Looks like the competition just got a whole lot more interesting huh"

"You bet" Ash replied, "But it doesn't matter how many of them come at me. I'm gonna beat them all and win that tournament without a hitch! Me and my Pokemons are ready for anything! Right Pikachu (Pikapika!) Bring them on by the dozen, I'll take them all on!"

"That's the spirit" Brock nodded, "It's that kind of attitude that makes the tournament all the more interesting. If everyone had the same kind of experience as Ash, then I wouldn't want to miss this year's Sinnoh league for the world"

"Don't get too excited now" Dawn added, "You might burn yourself out before we even reach our destination"

"Yeah, it's best to relax now and let it all out later" Zoey agreed, "Besides, we have three days so relax Ash"

"Yeah, maybe I will" but just when Ash was about to head back to join the gang for a little R&R his eye suddenly caught a glimpse of several figures wearing oddly similar clothings. "Huh?" there were about half a dozen of them outside the train right now and the leader of the group seemed to be conversing with the train's conductor. The boy couldn't really see who they were due to the darkness, but whoever they are, they look mighty important. "Hey… who are those guys?"

Brock noticed the boy's curiosity and decided to see what it was that was bothering him. Even though his eyes were a bit squinty, he had better vision that Ash, "Hey… those uniforms. They look like…… Pokemon Rangers?"

"What are Pokemon Rangers doing all the way out in the east?" Zoey said puzzled.

"They could be here to have a routine checkup on Pokemons" the squinty eyed trainer gently put his hand over his chin as he thought of the possibilities. "I can't imagine what other reasons they could be here for. Well whatever it is, I bet it's nothing we should be worried about. Come on, let's go get ourselves something to eat before tomorrow"

Surprisingly, everyone seemed to have agreed with his idea. The gang could really use the food.

**(Station waiting point)**

**A/N (Author's Note): The following characters come from Pokemon Ranger the game. Some are also seen in the anime.**

But while the gang was enjoying themselves on a little R&R, the meeting that took place outside the train was not beds of roses. A group of Pokemon Ranger elites led by one of the most professional veterans of the company was having a little discussion right on the ramp of the train.

"Oh thank goodness. You must be Spenser of the Pokemon Rangers, am I correct?" the conductor of the train asked slightly relieved to see their uniforms and proper identification cards. "On behalf of train 101, I gladly welcome you. I've heard that you've come all the way from the Fiore region am I correct?"

"Yes, that's us" the veteran looking man known as Spenser nodded, "We've been tasked of guarding a special package which was to be sent to the P.R.I (Pokemon Research Institute) headquarters in Kanto. I am pleased to meet your acquaintance. I hope you didn't encounter any problems while on your way here"

"Not at all sir" the conductor replied proudly, "But I'm just worried. Are you going to bring all of them? We were only told that there would be two rangers coming by so we didn't expect to see a whole company"

"You were told correct actually" Spenser clarified, "These two are Solana and Lunick. They're the best rangers I have in Ringtown and they can handle themselves in any situation" he gestured to the two rangers who were standing along with their Plusle and Minun. "The rest of us here will follow the train via another train that should passing here in an hour or so. After we get to the second pit-stop, we'll rendezvous with another group of Rangers just to double check our security. Do you understand?"

"Yes yes yes, the manager already explained the detail of the mission" the conductor replied, "I'll have four guards stationed at the rear carriage just in case of security breach. Officer Jenny from Sunnyshore city also came by to act as head of security. Come on board whenever you're ready, we leave as soon as the water tank is full"

"Very well" Spenser then turned his attention to his two most trusted pupils, "Alright you two, you know the mission. Under no circumstances must the package come to harm. The PRI are counting on the success of this mission. Don't let me down, but don't throw your lives away needlessly, ok?"

"We understand sir" the boy known as Lunick saluted, "We won't let you down"

"We'll make sure nothing happens to the package" the girl named Solana replied also with a salute. "It's a promise"

"Good" the veteran knew that nothing bad can possibly happen when these two work together, but he couldn't help but feel like something wasn't right. Like something was out of place. "The other rangers and I will be following close by on a mini train. Report to me every twenty minutes after the train departs, ok? If something should happen, I'll tell the conductor to slow the train down so we can catch up"

"But sir, what about the people inside?" Lunick asked, "From what I heard, everyone inside is a Pokemon trainer"

"We can't allow civilians to be involved in this" the head ranger replied sternly, "If the threat endangers the entire train, you have permission to cut the link between the trains. But that will only be used during the most critical situation, understood?"

"Sir, yes sir!" and with that they all gave out a quick salute to one another.

"I wish you the best of luck. Rangers, move out! (Ho!)" and with that, the rest of the party headed off, leaving Solana and Lunick behind to pack their things. But before they could go on and get their bags, Spenser suddenly gave them one big hug for the road. "Be safe you two… ok?"

A slow and awkward pause rolled by as the head ranger surprised them with such a parenting act. They didn't know what to do or what to say, but they knew that he only wished the best for both of the. "Chief?"

Later, Spenser broke off the hug, "Ahem! Anyway, I'll see you later"

As Lunick and Solana entered the train with their personal belonging, they were immediately greeted by a group police officers and Officer Jenny that were tasked with the same mission as them. "Welcome aboard sir. We'll take you to the rear carriage right now" Solana nodded and followed the guards to their new post on board the train.

After a couple of minutes later, the train soon departed from the station towards their next pit-stop and hopefully they'll be able to get there without any mishaps.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

With most of the guests busy preparing for their supper, the two elite Pokemon Rangers soon arrive at the last carriage of the train only to find it well protected on all sides. "Is this the last carriage of the train?" Lunick asked as he scanned the surroundings.

"Yes sir" said officer Jenny. "I've stationed two men at the front and two more at the rear entrance just in case of a sneak attack. The top lid has also been completely sealed off, so no one can enter or exit the carriage without us knowing. To make sure that the package is safe, I also have one guard make a routine patrol every ten minutes"

"Looks like you double checked everything" Solana said impressed by their sense of duty.

"Yeah, but it's better not to get too comfortable" Lunick warned, "If you don't mind officer, I'd like to see the package myself"

"Not at all" Jenny then signaled to the guard to open the door that had been roughly chained by three locks and an automated security system. When the door opened, the Pokemon Rangers and officer Jenny took a look inside to see what they risking their lives for.

Inside the last carriage, was nothing more but an empty room, save but one single object that stood right at the center of the carriage. It was a mid-sized safe chained together with one mother lovin-lock. The safe itself was a combination safe which required utmost patience and skill to break in. And even if the perks should be able to break in this room, they would have a hard time just trying to move the safe from its position, since it was practically nailed to the train itself.

"So this is it… the super top secret package that we've been assigned" Lunick stated as he took a deep look on the safe. To think that such a small and simply object like this would actually require so much protection. "I thought that I'd be bigger"

"I know that this thing doesn't look much" Jenny nodded as she also had a feeling that protecting something this small was beneath her task, "But the object inside this safe is more valuable than everything the museum in Eterna city. The PRI really wants to put this thing in their secure base back in Kanto as fast as possible so they picked this express train"

"Umm, do you mind if we ask, what's inside?" Solana asked.

"To tell you the truth, I'm not sure myself. I was only told that it was extremely valuable and I should protect it at all cost. Oh, that reminds me. Here, take these" she quickly gave the two Pokemon Rangers a pair of keys which looked identical to one another. "These keys are the only spares that I have. They open the door that we came through, and the supply carriage before this one. If we're done here then I'll show you to your stations" and with that, the three of them headed off, leaving the package alone and untouched.

But right after the security force left the room, they did not know that three figures were hiding in the shadow, listening to their every word. "Did you guys here that?" grinned Jessie.

"I may have poor eye sight but I heard every word" grinned Meowth

"More valuable than everything a museum had" James finished with the widest grin. "It's bound to be priceless beyond our salaries"

"Priceless huh?" Jessie smirked, "Oh we'll put a price for it alright, all we need is just the right one" and suddenly without any warning, the three villains began pulling the safe from its standing point, in hopes of finding a shortcut of becoming rich and famous.

-Fame and fortune can be earned, but life is inexpendable-

-Unknown

**(Train VIP food court) (All you can eat buffet)**

When the gang decided to have a little supper that night, they only thought that they would getting a small one course meal that was highly rationed in every city. But when they got to the food court, they were showered with a whole buffet table filled with the latest delicacy of the Sinnoh region. There were fruits that ranged by the hundreds and other dishes that are not easily found on the menus of a three star restaurant everywhere in the world. Heck there were even food that the gang never even heard of before.

The food court was probably the longest carriage the train had in its entire body. There were windows that showed the views of mountains, field and ocean, tables lined out neatly, in which to serve the highest class of human society and china plates came with silk napkins rolled through along with the most expensive eating utensils money could possibly buy.

"Whoa… talk about your own life style" said Brock who seemed rather amazed of the whole place. "Whoever thought that I'd actually be sitting in a five star restaurant like this… and in a train no less"

"I'm just as surprised as you are Brock" Zoey said also amazed, "I've never seen a place like this before. It almost feels like you're in a palace"

"Yeah" Kenny agreed, "But I'm sure that a professional trainer like Ash has seen better than this. Right Ash? (silence) Ash? Hey, where'd Ash go?" but strangely, the boy in question seemed to have disappeared somewhere when the gang weren't looking.

Dawn simply pointed to the all you can eat buffet table, "Don't worry about him. He left the moment he saw the all you can eat sign" and to the girl's truth, she was right. Ash was already at the buffet table picking out what to get and what to eat.

When Brock saw this, he let out a laugh, "Well we'd better hurry or that all you can eat buffet will turn into an all you can find table"

But while the gang rushed towards Ash's location, the boy in question was already gouging down things the moment he set his sights on them. "Oh man, I don't even know where to start!" he said excitingly while wiggling his fingers picking one piece after another. "Hey, this looks nice. Oh, I've never seen this before but it looks tasty. Oh and maybe some of this and some of that, oh and maybe some of these too. How about it Pikachu?" before anyone else realize, Ash's plate was already so full that it weight about twenty to thirty kilogram. "Alright, this should be plenty. Come on Pikachu, let's go grab ourselves a table (Pika pika)"

But sadly, as the boy looked around, there didn't seem to be any tables available. Since all the trainers here were all hungry, I guess it wasn't a surprise that they were eating till their hearts content.

"Oh man… it looks like the place is packed full (Pi--ka)" Ash noted as his little Pikapal looked over his head to see if there was any table left. "What am I gonna do with this now?" just when he thought of going back to his room to finish off his plate, the boy suddenly noted a figure waving at him from one of the tables. "Hey, who's that?" the guy waving at him seemed to stand out among the rest of the trainers here. He was wearing a green garb, a green feathered hat, and on his side, rested a golden harp that was shaped into a Mew, the mythical legendary Pokemon. "Is that? Is that…… Nando!? Hey guys, look, it's Nando!" As notified his companions as he approached the table.

"Hello Ash, it's nice to see you again" said the young man known as Nando, "I must say that this is quite a surprise for me. I didn't expect to see you again until the Sinnoh league"

"I could say the same for you Nando" Ash replied while taking his seat, "Are you a VIP in the train as well?"

"Yes I am" came his instant answer, "An old friend of mine gave me this ticket back in Sunnyshore city. I was having a hard time trying to find a way to the Pokemon league and I even thought that I would never get the chance to compete in it. You could say that this is like a pot of gold landing on my lap. (pause) Oh, but please join me. It's pretty lonely when you eat alone in such a big restaurant. I could use the company"

"Ash already helped himself" Dawn chuckled, but Ash simply ignored her. "So Nando, which one are you gonna compete in? The Pokemon league or the Sinnoh Grand Festival? Since you were able to get all eight badges and five ribbons, I'm sure they'll ask you to compete in both"

"Well… actually you're half correct Dawn" the young harpist replied as he showed them his own treasures. "I do have five ribbons but I'm afraid I'm one badge short to compete in the Sinnoh league"

And this of course, caught Ash's attention. "Huh? Why? What happened? Didn't you get a badge from Sunnyshore city?"

"I'm afraid not Ash" he sighed, "I challenged the gym leader, Volkner nearly six times ever since I got to Sunnyshore city and I could not get through his tactical thinking at all. It was like I was fighting against a wall that could not be torn down by simple means. I planned to challenge him again yesterday, but he already left for the Johto regions for some annual call"

"Man, that's rough" Kenny commented, "But Ash, didn't you win a badge from Volkner when you got there?"

"Really?!" Nando stated slightly amazed, "Did you really defeat him Ash?!" the boy nodded back before showing his badge to him.

"Yeah… he was kind of tough, but my Pokemons pulled it through for me" the boy added. "That was probably the toughest battle I had up to date. I even thought that I might've lost the second time"

"You battled with him only two times… and won" again, Nando was left speechless. He really thought that Ash and him were equally match in every aspect of battle and coordinating tactics, but he realized now that he was already far behind. "I see……… I guess I really don't stand a chance against you Ash" he stated like he was just defeated, "I'm going to have to train my Pokemons harder next time and perhaps next year, we'll meet in the Sinnoh league"

"Hey, I'll be waiting for you at the top Nando" Ash gave out one of his trademark smiles in reply.

And while the gang continued to have their normal evening supper, Zoey began to hear some whispers coming from the next table nearby. Apparently a kid probably about six or seven years old and his big brother were watching them from the corner of their eye. "Huh?" when the two of them realized that were discovered they quickly returned their eyes back on their table.

"It's him, it has to be" whispered the little brother

"No it can't be" said the elder one, "He can't be found this easily"

"But he looks just like him! He has to be! (pause) I'm going to ask him" and with a move that surprised even his parents, the little kid hesitantly approaches the table Ash and his friends were in and muttered silently. "Um… excuse me"

"Hmm? (Pika?)" Ash noticed the little boy twitching his thumb, "Uh… can I help you?"

The little kid blushed slightly before asking, "Umm… you wouldn't be the Pokemon trainer… Ash Ketchum, would you?"

Ash seemed rater confused on how the kid knew his name, but decided to answer honestly instead, "Uh… yeah… I am" he replied.

In that instant, the kid's eyes grew as wide as saucer plates and sparkles came out of them, "I knew it! I knew it! You're the famous Ash Ketchum! Wow, I can't believe I'm seeing you in person. This is incredible! I saw your battle in the Hearthome double battle tournament a few months ago. You were awesome. And that time you competed in the Wallace Cup contest near Veilstone city. Wow, everyone thought that you were a full time trainer, but instead, you're the whole package!"

"Umm… thanks?" Ash didn't really know how to react to this since it would probably be a first for him.

"Oh and was that rumor about you true?"

"Rumor? What rumor?"

"About the thing that you defeated Volkner, the undefeated gym leader of Sunnyshore city! Is it true? They say that the guy remained undefeated for almost two years now!"

"Uh well…"

But suddenly, Dawn answered it for him, "Yup that rumor is true. Ash even has the badge to prove it right here" she quickly took the small container from Nando and showed the kid the small badge at the edge of the box. When the little guy saw it, his eyes widened even more if that was even humanly possible.

"Whoa, the rumors were true! You really are an awesome trainer! When I grow up, I want to be just as strong as you Ash!"

"Uh… thanks (Pika…)" Pikachu simply let out a small sweat drop as he too was a little new to fame.

"Hey, you must be Ash's strongest Pokemon Pikachu" the kid continued, "I want to have a Pikachu too when I start out my journey. When I grow up, I'm gonna challenge you to a battle Ash" and without even waiting for a reply, the boy rushed off feeling a little better that he managed to talk to his idol.

Ash simply rubbed the back of his head again feeling a little embarrassed about the whole situation, "Wow… I think I got myself another long time rival" he said jokingly.

"It's more like you got yourself a fan" Nando corrected.

"Well since he's been on TV for so long, I guess it's not a surprise to see Ash get a fan or two" Brock added with a smirk, "Looks like you're finally getting famous Ash. Better look out, because the crowd's only gonna get a whole lot bigger in the future"

"Really?" the boy chuckled, "I don't think I'll ever be used to fame. But I got to say that this was a surprise. Who knows maybe we all have fans out there somewhere"

"Hey, don't sell yourself too short Ash" Zoey complimented, "You've been working really hard, ever since you started on your Pokemon journey. Whatever you make out of it, I still think you deserve that kid's compliment"

But just when the two of them laughed in agreement with one another, Dawn suddenly began to get that strange feeling again deep within her heart. Her chest was pounding and a sudden ticked off vibe began to emanate from her face. She couldn't explain why, but seeing Ash and Zoey act so friendly together made her grip her eating utensils tighter than usual. Heck, if she actually put more force into it, she might've just break her butter knife in half.

"Hey Dawn, you ok?" Kenny noted his childhood friend a little quieter than usual, "You were out for a while there"

"Huh? Oh sorry. I guess I'm just a little nervous about the grand festival" she lied. Her mouth was saying it but her mind was off somewhere else. "This is my first time after all"

"Hey, you're not the only one" Kenny replied holding his chin up. Zoey and I are probably the same as you. We're all nervous, but that doesn't mean we can't relax and enjoy, right?"

"Kenny's right" Ash agreed, "There no use worrying over things that we can't control. Just relax and everything will be fine. Pikachu and I are also gonna take it easy from now on (Pika pikachu)"

"I guess you're right" Dawn flatly agreed, "Worrying won't solve anything now, would it?"

"Let's just enjoy our time now" Brock recommended, "Besides, we still have two days left to go before we get to the Pokemon league"

**(Outside the train)**

But while the gang were enjoying their time inside the train, they did not know that they and the other passengers on board were being watched from the outside, by a group of strange knights riding on flying Pokemons. They seemed to be here on a mission but they kept their distance from the train. They were using the cover of darkness and the sound of the winds to cover themselves from prying eyes and unwanted ears of attention.

"Status report" said Shani, the leader of the small platoon.

"We've spotted a lot of guards on the rear carriage ma'am" the knight explained briefly, "They seem to have a system of twelve men at the rear end of the train and from what our spies collected, there are only two Pokemon Rangers inside the train. The others are following behind"

"Well then, that means we only have about ten to fifteen minutes to finish the job" the girl grinned from ear to ear as she scanned the train looking for an easy way in and out, but sadly there were none. The guards on every side of the train and the top side were monitored by a survalance cam from the security room at the center of the train itself. However it wasn't getting in that was the hard part, but actually the getting on board. With the train traveling at least 60kph, it was hard just trying to keep up with it.

"What are your orders ma'am?" the knights asked ready to take action on the first order given.

Shani looked at them for a minute and smirked, "There's too many of them for us to take down. We'll commandeer the VIP rooms and the supply carriage. I want a jammer stationed nearby so that they won't be able to communicate with each other. Got it? (nods) Alright, we attack the train in one hour!"

"HO!"

**(Back inside the train) (08:13 PM)**

After the gang was finished with their supper, Ash decided to get in bed early so he can wake up tomorrow fresh and energized. "Man… what a meal" the young Pokemon trainer burped out silently trying not to be rude among his friends. "I'm so full, I think my stomach was going to explode. I don't think I can fit another bite (Pika…)" Pikachu agreed rubbing his stomach as well.

"Oh I think you'll be able to find a way to get more in" Dawn teased, "That all you can buffet turned out to be an all you can eat after all teehee. I'm actually surprised that you didn't finish it all and left some for us" they all laughed in agreement.

"I see" Nando said slightly amazed, "From what Dawn's saying, you must be a real food lover Ash"

"I can't really tell if he loves the food or he just loves eating" Kenny added and again the gang laughed. Ash would've countered in a way, but he simply didn't have energy to talk anymore.

But just when the gang were about to head back to their respective rooms, Dawn suddenly bumped onto one of the Pokemon Rangers that was too busy looking at the ceiling. "Oh I'm sorry" Dawn bowed apologetically, "I've been bumping onto a lot of people lately"

Ash was about to help out the girl, but when he saw the Ranger's face he quickly knew who it was. "Solana?" he muttered.

The young Ranger noted her name and looked right back at the boy, "Huh? Ash? Ash Ketchum, is that you?" after scanning the boy's face for the moment, Solana immediately recognized him, "It is you! How ya doing Ash?"

"Just great Solana" the boy replied with a small handshake. Hew then noticed a Minun on the girl's neck, waving cheerfully at him. "Hey there Minun, long time no see. Hey Dawn, you remember Solana, don't you? We met her near Veilstone city some time ago"

"Oh right, back when we were chasing Team Hunter J and that Riolu" the young coordinator instantly recognized her with a blink of an eye.

"Hey, what about me?" came another voice which Ash, Brock and Dawn recognized as well. When they turned their heads around they came across Lunick, another one of the Pokemon Rangers. "I was the one who helped you guys after all"

"Oh everyone" Solana cooed, "I'd like to introduce you to my new partner, Lunick. Ash, I think you've met before, am I right?"

The boy in question nodded, "Yeah, you were awesome back then. How's Riolu doing by the way? Is he doing well?"

"He's doing great Ash" Lunick smirked back, "He's currently staying at one of our safe zones near Canalave city. The professor is looking after him until he's ready to be sent back into the wilds. How about you Ash? I haven't seen you on TV since last week on that all you can enter contest near Sunnyshore city"

"Yeah, I've been doing a little training for awhile" the boy replied, "It's just that there's so many things happening right now and with the Sinnoh league coming, you could say I'm on a little break"

"That's understandable. So you guys must be here as VIPs. You guys are lucky, the tickets here don't come cheap you know"

"That's alright, my mom got me these tickets" Dawn answered back waving her hand, "So what about you guys? What are you here for? Are you going to the Sinnoh stadium for a reason?"

"Well actually, we're here on a mission to promphhhh!" Lunick quickly covered the mouth of his partner before she could blabber anymore about their top secret mission. "Hey Lunick, what was that for?!"

"This is supposed to be a secret mission!" he replied in a stern tone. "You can't just go telling people what we're doing here!"

"Oh come on now, this is Ash we're talking about" she cooed innocently, "I think he's already overqualified as a Pokemon Ranger elite, don't you think? You have to admit that without his help, you would still be in the rookie part of the ranger corp. tee hee hee"

"Solana…" Lunick groaned.

"Ok ok… sheesh. Talk about touchy" the girl said grouching, "Sorry guys, but this is kind of a secret mission we're on. So I can't really tell you about the details"

"Wow… a top secret mission" Kenny said with sparkly eyes, "It must be something really important"

"Anyway, wanna join us for a cup of tea?" Brock offered, "I bought some tea bags from the station before we left so we could have a nice relaxing evening"

"Sorry but we're…" Lunick was about to decline but Solana beat him to it.

"We'd love to Brock!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Brrrrrrrrrrrr…………………

That was the sound of a drilling operation happening at the rear end of the train. Even after so many hours of hard labor, Team Rocket did not surrender the idea of getting the safe out of the train to ransom it for a huge sum. Though their mind was filled with greed their hearts still rang with honor and pride of becoming the best members of Team Rocket. They did not care what was inside the safe nor how much they got for the ransom. All they wanted out of the whole operation was the fame and notoriety that came with it.

While James was still busy drilling through the hard structure of the safe with his combustion powered drilling machine, Jessie decided to take a little break along with Meowth for a nice cup of coffee. They had spent the first hour trying to hammer it, cut it and breaking it, but none of the process worked. Jessie even entertained the idea of even blowing the darn thing up with dynamites but that would only blow them off as well along with whatever item that was inside. They had several sticks of dynamites with them, but they were used during emergency purposes only.

But while James busied himself with the manual labor, Jessie began to dream of what she was going to do when she got her hand on the ransom money. "Hmm… I wonder what I'll get first with the money?" see, told ya so. "Maybe I'll buy myself a nice theater back in Varidian city. After that I'll take a tour around the world, becoming an all star signer at the same time"

"And while you're doing that, I'll be enjoying myself at the salon for a change" Meowth pushed his own imagination in the picture bubble altogether. "After that I'll go to my own private hot spring and let the water melt me off like a bag of tea in a hot cup of water"

"Well while you two are busy doing your thing, I'll be off to the Pewter city Yoho factory" James added.

"Yoho?" the mascot said quizzled, "Isn't that the old soda that old people use to buy during their childhood? Why in the world would you want to buy that?"

"Because Yoho drinks are no longer being sold around" the blue haired villain explained, "And that means that their bottle cap is absolutely impossible to find! After I bring the factory back in business, I'll be the only person in the world to ever have a Yoho bottle cap in his collection! Mwahahahahaha! I'll be the envy of bottle cap collectors world wide ahahahahaha"

"All that trouble just for a single bottle cap?" Jessie groaned. "Remind me to hire a professional psychiatrist when I come back from my tour" but then suddenly, James constant drilling onto the solid safe suddenly began to bear fruit. "Huh? Is that sound, what I think it is?"

"It looks like my drilling lessons finally paid off!" but before James could even read for the safe, Jessie laid a punch onto his face, sending him to the wall.

"Get lost buster! You had your share of the fun drilling, so now it's my turn to open the chest!" as she slowly opened the contents of the chest, all three members began to get the same sweaty feeling deep inside. Their muscles tightened, their sweat glands worked overtime and their focus was completely centered on the small opening.

And when the safe was fully opened, the special hidden item inside the giant safe was nothing more… but another smaller safe which was equally dense to the first one that they broke through. With the mere sight of another lock, the trio face fault on the floor altogether. "Is this some kind of sick joke!?" Jessie yelled out furiously, "What about my ticket to fame and fortune!? My one way trip to stardom!? Open up you stupid thing grrrrrr!" the girl was so mad that she even tried to open the second safe with her own bare teeth. "James, get back to drilling, now!"

**(Time skip) (09:10 PM) (VIP carriage)**

It was quiet that night in train 101. The passengers were sleeping peacefully, the train was progressing smoothly and the echoes of the wind passed through the windows gracefully. It was a perfect night for sleeping and a perfect night for courting (HEY!) Oh sorry…

When the lights were finally put off by the security system, Ash and his companions almost immediately hit the hay sack so that they could wake up early for breakfast. But during that peaceful moonlit night, our young hero seemed to be having some trouble going to bed. "Oh…… man" Ash groaned. He had recently went to the rest room due to his growling stomach and had been staying there for almost five minutes top. "I must've eaten something really bad during the buffet, my stomach is going all nuts on me (groan) (Pikachu) Oh… man…" but just as the boy was about to head to his room, he suddenly noticed someone coming out. "Huh?" and for some reason his reflexes told him to hide away from sight, less he becomes a suspicious character. "Hey, was that… Zoey? (Pi… ka?)" he muttered silently to himself. The red head girl was in her aqua blue PJ but something didn't seem right about her.

Usually Zoey would resonate a powerful feeling around herself. Like some kind of aura that makes you feel like you want to admire her. She had that kind of power but the only thing bad about it was that because she was unconsciously doing it.

Having curiosity take over him, Ash decided to follow the girl just to make sure that she wasn't going anywhere dangerous. At first he only thought that she was going to use the rest room for a minute, but when the girl entered the food court carriage, he began to grow a little more worried about her. "Hmm? I wonder what could Zoey be doing in here? (Pi ka)" he asked himself as he followed not too far behind. Not wanting to surprise the girl with his own presence, the boy opened the connecting door slightly and took a little peek through the small opening.

The red head coordinator was sitting on one of the many empty tables that were lined up. She sat down and allowed the moonlight to shower her like a graceful beam from above. She didn't really have anyone to talk to so without opening her mouth, the girl turned her gaze to the beautiful view of the outside world for some relaxation. Right now they were passing through a small forest patch near the edge of a cliff. The train was traveling a semi-zigzag route to the second checkpoint and hopefully there wasn't going to be any mishap along the way.

After a few minutes of starring through the window, Ash decided to join in to see what was wrong. "Hey Zoey" he greeted almost too normally which startled the girl.

"A… Ash? Pikachu? What are you doing here?" she stammered.

"I was taking a little stroll before I go to sleep" came his almost true answer. "But when I saw you here, I thought I might join ya for a little chat. If you don't mind"

"What? No no no, not at all" again the girl stammered, "I was just thinking that's all"

"About the grand festival?" he said while taking his seat. His Pikachu on the other hand simply took the center table.

The girl jolt back slightly surprised, "How'd you know?"

"It's written all over your face" he humored, "But it's ok. Everybody gets nervous on their first big debut. I remember May when she first got into the Hoenn grand festival a year ago. She acted like she was going on her first contest battle or something"

"But she made it to the second round, didn't she?"

"Yeah, but that was because she knew exactly what to do during stress" Ash explained turning his eye over to the window overlooking the beautiful view, "She was really talented when it came to contests and I'd say that she'd actually make a great rival for a real Pokemon trainer"

"You sound like you're the one who trained her" Zoey chuckled back, "She did say a lot of things about you back during the Wallace cup last month. I can't remember all the details but she said that you were her mentor"

The boy rubbed the back of his head slightly embarrassed, "Oh really? She didn't say anything like that to me"

"Tee hee… you still have a long way to go if you're going to understand girls Ash" Zoey cooed, "Sometimes we just find it hard to admit things to boys"

"I guess you'll need to tell that to Brock" they soon broke a laugh together which silently echoed through the room. "So which part of the grand festival were you thinking about Zoey?" the boy asked finally. "Are you thinking about the Pokemon appeal or the contest battle?"

"Actually, I was thinking of both" she replied honestly. "I don't really know which part of the contest I really excel in. I try thinking of appeals, but I don't really know which combination I should use. The Pokemon battles also worries me. Whenever I go on stage I always think… will my Pokemons be strong enough? Are the crowds happy with my combinations? Who's winning? That sort of things"

Ash opened his mouth slightly amazed. During his first impression of the girl, Ash thought that she was head strong, confident and extremely talented in battles, but here she is admitting that she has her own burden and high expectation of herself during battle.

"I know it's ridiculous for someone like me to be thinking that huh?" Zoey continued, "Sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up"

"No, I think it's great to be thinking about that" Ash replied which surprised the girl. "Back when I first started my Pokemon journey. I also wondered about those things too. Even today I still worry if I'm good enough to make it through the cut of the preliminaries. But then Brock gave me one good advice that I still keep saying to myself today (pause) Give it your best (Pika pika pikachu!)"

"Give it… your best?" Zoey echoed.

"Yeah! No matter how big or small the battle may be, you always have to give it your best!" Ash raised his fist up as a gesture of what he was saying, "Because when you give it everything you've got, at least then you'll know that you're a winner by heart. Even if you do lose, knowing that you've given out everything you have, is enough for me. If you don't give it your all, then you'll never know your full potential. That's why every time I go into battle, I will always remember to give everything I got no matter how strong my opponents are"

For some bizarre reason, Zoey couldn't find a logical comeback for that barrage of wisdom. She felt slightly stunned and for the first time she actually felt like she actually wanted to admire the boy. She always thought that her determination was unrivaled by any other trainer she had encountered along her journey, but after hearing Ash's own ray of courage, she felt like she was just a torch compared to the boy's bright and shining sun.

-Do your best, because you can't do any better than that-

-Race Drivers: The Grid-

"Give it my all huh" the girl said again giggling, "Yeah… that does sound like a great advice. Thanks Ash… I feel much better now"

"Hey, what are friends for?" the boy chuckled. But just as they laughed together in peace, Ash's stomach began to growl hungrily which made him blush embarrassingly. Pikachu gave out a small sweat drop. "Oh…… ahehehehe I guess all this talking made me a little hungry (Pi pikapi)" even though the boy had a whole buffet served up to him, he was still hungry. "Wait here, I'll go and get us something from the vending machine. Come on Pikachu (Pika)" and with that he walked off to the nearest vending machine which was conveniently placed next to the connecting door.

And while Ash was busy picking the treats from the machine, Zoey couldn't help but look at the boy's back with googily eyes. The boy really did know what to say when she was down; even though he doesn't have the slightest clue what was bothering her. It must've been another one of his hidden talents to be able to inspire and encourage others to do their best in life. But while she was busy admiring him from behind, a small enchanting voice crept up to her ear and whispered a tingle phrase to her head.

"_It… is time…"_

"Huh?" she instantly jolt her head around slightly frightened. "That's odd. I thought I heard someone" but it was practically impossible for someone to be standing next to her because the only thing there was a window and beyond that was a cliff that led straight to a small forest. Unless a person can float and travel about 60kph, then that would be something to see.

"Hey" Ash called as he put touched a can of soda onto Zoey's cheeks which caused her to flinch slightly from the cold. "Here you go. You like strawberry flavor right?"

"Oh… thanks Ash" she gladly took the drink and took a deep gulp before turning her attention back to the view. The voice that she heard a few seconds ago completely forgotten.

As Ash returned to his own seat, he quickly pulled out a bag of chips and lay it on the table so that they could share it. Though the food and beverages were kind of cheap, anyone who would look at them now would say that they were either on a date or a honeymoon.

**(VIP carriage)**

"Haa…" that was the sound of Lunick sighing as he walked into the VIP lounge for a routine checkup patrol on the passengers. He and Solana decided to Rock-Paper-Scissor to see who goes on the first shift of patrol. "Man… I can't believe I lot… again!" he groaned. "I'm so asking the chief for a raise after this mission is over" but just when he was about to move on to the food court, his communicator suddenly began to beep signaling him that someone was trying to get in touch with him. "Hello, ranger Lunick here. Who am I……… chief?"

"Hey Lunick" came Spenser the head Ranger. "You didn't radio me the last hour so I was getting kind of worried. Is something going on there?"

"Not really" he replied, _"Other than it's completely boring around here"_ that was what he thought. "Solana and I are taking turns with guarding the package. I'm doing a routine patrol right now and nothing much to report about. Oh by the way: we also met some friends here in the train. A Pokemon trainer named Ash. He and Solana look like they're acquainted"

"Ash?" Spenser repeated the name in a question like form, "As in Ash Ketchum (nod) Well talk about lucky. Some of my old colleges have high recommendation about him too. I was supposed to find him in the Sinnoh stadium but it looks like he came to me instead"

"Do you know him sir?"

"Not in person but all of my friends says that he's a ranger at heart. Tell him to meet with me on the next pit stop on the way. I have to give him something"

"Understood sir…" but just when they were about to continue their conversation, a transmission suddenly got cut off. "Huh? Hey, chief, are you there? Hello? Oh come on, don't tell me that this thing is busted again" but then suddenly, he noticed a shadow passed right through his body. Quickly sensing danger, Lunick quickly leaped out of the way before the attacker could make a surprise attack on him. "What the?!"

In a blink of an eye, six mysterious figures wearing black hoodies and carrying medieval weapons broke through the sky liner up top and landed skillfully on the ground. "Get him!" said the leader of the group.

Seeing that these guys weren't friends, Lunick grabbed the hardest object his hand could acquire (which happens to be a vase) and smashed it onto his attacker. "Don't take me lightly just because I'm a kid" knowing full well that he was outnumbered and outmatch the boy did the only thing that could ensure his survival. With a swift motion of his hand, he slammed his fist onto the fire alarm system which quickly activated the sprinklers in the hallway. "Try and catch me now!"

With the alarm sounded, the young ranger made a quick tactical withdrawal back to the supply room to notify the rest of the guards of the situation.

**(Engine room)**

When the alarm sounded, officer Jenny quickly got out of her seat and pulled out her radio. "What's going on? All units fire alarm at the VIP carriage, get the passengers out of there now!" however, there didn't seem to be a reply coming from her radio. All she got in return was some static sound and feint voices. "Security room, check in? Supply guards? Anyone?" but again, nothing but static sounds. Not wanting to take any chances with this, the young officer moved out, "You three, come with me. We're going to the package!"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Conductor!" Jenny turned to the driver of the train, "Slow down the train a little bit so we can regroup with the other Pokemon Rangers, just in case"

"Yes, of course officer" the conductor agreed before tuning down the speed of the engine. "Alright, we're down to 30kph. That's our half speed right now"

"Good, alright let's go men!"

And when the police officer was gone, the conductor quickly let out a small sigh of relief. "Oh boy… and to think that my train record would stand out" but his sigh soon became a yelp as he felt a sword tip plucking at the back of his stomach. "Eeeep!"

"Tune the speed up to 70kph…… now" the knight ordered which the conductor gladly complied. How he was able to get in there without the officers knowing was beyond him. When the train speed went up, the soldier knocked the conductor out with a simple hit on the neck. After tying him up he turned to his high tech ear phone communicator. "Lieutenant, the engine room has been secured"

"Excellent" came Shani's voice, "Team one and team two, are in position. Begin the operation. Seal the entrance to VIP carriage"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Ma'am, what about the food court?"

"Destroy it…… it'll buy us some time to extract the package out of the train" she replied, "Use the explosives that we brought along with us. Once we have what we came for, we leave immediately. Anyone stuck behind will be left behind"


	3. Train 101's Final Destination

Chapter 3: Train 101's Final Destination

**Chapter 3: Train 101's Final Destination!**

**(Pokemon Ranger train)**

A few minutes after the attack commenced at train 101, Spenser began to get a terrifying worry about his two elites that he stationed inside the train. At first he thought that the communication was cut off because of some kind of magnetic field from the mountains, but he felt like something else was behind this… and usually his sixth sense was never wrong. "Hey driver, can you contact the head train? I want to get a checkup on their situation"

"Yes sir" the driver replied before forwarding himself to his computer, "Eh? That's odd"

"What is?"

"There appears to be an interference within the communication, I can't seem to get a hold of conductor, sir" the driver explained as he continued to dial various other numbers.

"Can you contact any other room?"

"No sir, they're all the same. All channels seemed to have been blocked by some kind of signal. Maybe the magnetic field of the mountain is interfering with our com link"

But just as Spenser began to get an evil worse feeling than before, one of his rangers noted something strange was happening on the train. "Hey chief, the train… it's increasing its speed!"

"WHAT?!"

"They must be going at least 70 or 80kph" said another ranger. "But if they keep that speed up at this terrain, they could fall off the cliff!"

"Damn it! Driver, put this train in full throttle! Get us on that train now!"

"No can do sir! This train is an old model. We can only get up to 50kph, anymore than that and we'll be risking a big blowout later in the morning!"

"_And without communication, I can't tell the conductor to slow down…"_

Spenser cursed under his breath as he gritted his teeth. Unable to wait any longer, he whistled out to the sky. "Fearow, let's go!" immediately, a giant bird appeared from the sky and with a quick move, Spenser grabbed the flying Pokemon by the leg. "I'll try and slow the train down! Once you guys are in range, get on board immediately and find out what's happening!"

"Yes sir!" the rangers saluted

**(Food court)**

A few minutes after the alarm was sounded, Ash and Zoey jolted away from their seats confused on what was happening. "Hey, what's going on?"

"Attention…" came the computerized voice from the speakers, "Attention all passengers. The fire alarm system has been activated. The crew members of train 101 are on way to investigate and control the situation. Please refrain yourselves from going out of your room or your seats at this time. If you are out of your room at the moment, please remain there until help arrives. The fire alarm will be extinguish when the situation has been contained. That is all… thank you"

"Is that the fire alarm?" Zoey scanned around, getting a little irritated with the beeping noise. "It sounds like it's coming from the VIP room. Come on!" but just before they could even reach the door, the glass windows on the wall were torn down bringing outside intruders into the station. "Ahhh!"

"Zoey!" Ash quickly grabbed the girl by the hand and pulled her close to him, protecting her from the falling glasses. Luckily for them, the intruders haven't noticed them yet, so Ash decided to hide under the buffet table.

"Set the charges" the leader of the squad ordered, "The lieutenant wants this task done before the security force gets here. Once we have extracted the package, we can get out of here in no time"

"Yes sir!" as the knights quickly got to work and began setting up something that looked like… dynamite charges"

"Are those?" Ash observed, "Bombs? (TNT) They're gonna blow the whole train with that thing! We got to find a way to stop them!"

"But how?" Zoey said worryingly, "There's too many of them for us to handle alone and I left my Pokeballs back in my room"

Ash thought for awhile and quickly came up with a simple but effective plan. "Alright then. Zoey, Pikachu and I will go in and create a distraction. We'll hold them off as long as we can. You go back to the room and get Dawn, Brock, Kenny and Nando out of there. We'll meet at the rear carriage later. Come on Pikachu! (Pika pika!)" and without even waiting for the girl's consent, the boy rushed out of his hiding place and shouted out. "Hey, hold it right there!"

The knights seemed rather surprise of the boy's presence and took them about five seconds to think of a come back. "What the? GET HIM!" immediately four knights charged at Ash's position with their weapons in hand.

"Pikachu, use thunderbolt on all of them! (PI KA CHUUUU)" instantly the little mouse unleashed a powerful electrical jolt from its body, paralyzing all who would do his master harm. "Alright, good job Pikachu!"

"A Pokemon trainer? Here?" the leader of the knight squad groaned, "This was not part of the plan. You three, get the boy! I'll deal with the explosive charges!"

"Yes sir!" seeing that he got their attention, Ash decided to dash off a bit to give Zoey some breathing room. And thanks to the cover of the night, the girl quickly came out of her hiding spot and dashed right back into the VIP carriage to warn the others of the attackers.

**(VIP carriage)**

When Zoey entered through the connecting doors, she was immediately greeted by Lunick who was just finishing off the last of the intruding knights in the carriage. The entire hallway was slightly flooded due to the sprinklers still being activated, but she could care less about the water because right now Ash was in trouble and he's definitely going to need help. "Lunick!"

"Hmm? Zoey? Oh sorry, I just finished up on this side" he replied putting the last of the beaten knights down.

"Quickly, you have to help!" Zoey pleaded, "Ash is fighting over by the food court alone with some intruders. I don't know how much longer he can hold them off!"

Horrified to know that a civilian was caught in the crossfire, Lunick quickly calmed himself down, "Ok, Plusle and I will go and check it out. Zoey, can I trust you to bring the rest of the trainers out of here to the supply carriage? Solana should be right there waiting. Go, I'll bring Ash back safely"

"Right" and as the young ranger went on to see what he can do to save Ash, Zoey quickly got to Dawn's room to get the gang out of there. "Dawn, Brock!" she yelled, "Come on, we have to get out of here now!"

"But they said that we should remain in our rooms" Brock consulted to the announcement given earlier.. "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know much either" Zoey admitted, "But right now Ash is in trouble. We need to head for the supply carriage along with the other trainers. Help me get the rest of them out of here" the mere mention of Ash being trouble suddenly made Dawn feel a little uneasy. Her chest seemed to be in pain and her heart was burning with worries. What could've happened to Ash?

"Right" Brock replied, "Come on Dawn, let's go"

The girl in question quickly snapped out of her trance and moved up, "Huh… oh right. Come on Piplup! (Pi? Piplup!)" the little penguin jumped right onto the girl's shoulder and headed off towards the lounge. In a matter of minutes they split up to different rooms of the carriage to warn the others about the attack. Luckily for Dawn she was able to pick the room where Kenny and Nando were staying, "Kenny, Nando, there you are!"

"Dawn?" the boy said quizzled, "What's going on? I heard the fire alarm go off and there was fighting going on"

"I don't really know either, but right now we have to get out of here. Come on!" for the first time in a long while, Dawn actually looked kind of scary-serious.

"I think it would be wise to follow her orders" Nando recommended to Kenny to which he hesitantly agreed.

"Uh… ok…"

As the rest of the VIPs got out of their rooms and formed up a single file onto the supply carriage. Brock quickly took command and calmed the panicking trainers down. "Alright everyone, this way this way. There's no need to push around, there'll be plenty of room for everyone" after double checking the rooms again, Zoey came by.

"Brock, I checked the other rooms. That must be all of them" she debriefed him. "I'm going back to find Ash, I'll leave you to them"

"Uh hey wait! Zoey!" but the girl was already on the move before he could warn her not to go. "It's too dangerous! Come back!"

"I'm going too!" Dawn stated before following the red head off. "Zoey, wait for me!"

"Hey Dawn! Wait, don't leave me here!" Brock pleaded but sadly his plea only fell onto deaf ears. "Oh man… are all the girls like this or only the ones Ash travels with? (sigh) Well… as long as Ash is with them then I guess they'll be ok"

**(Food court)**

But Ash was not ok in the food court. When Zoey left off getting the others out of their rooms, he's been holding off the knights along with his Pikachu with great persistence. But apparently, he wasn't much of a fighter himself. All he could do was order Pikachu to attack while running around avoiding the knights. After fending off a couple of attacks from the knights he soon found himself surrounded and was unable to fight them all at once. He would've summoned his other Pokemons as well, but strangely, he seemed to have left his Pokeball belt back in his room.

With the knights having the advantage the boy decided to use the terrain he had to his advantage. Luckily, the buffet table had high ground so without waiting for the knights the boy climbed up the tall table while throwing some of the plates and bowls that was still stashed there.

After ten minutes of fighting off and tossing utensils from afar, Ash suddenly found himself cornered at the top of the buffet table surrounded by enemies and with no way out either. But of course, Ash wasn't one who was gonna go out without a fight. He'd rather drop dead for real than to play dead for these intruders. While Pikachu was out thunderbolting on one side, the boy used his feet to push the knights down. At least this would buy him some time until backup arrives.

"Ash!" came a voice from below.

"Lunick! Over here!" Ash shouted back pushing another one of the attackers off. "Stop that guy over there! He's planning to blow up the entire carriage!" he pointed to the man who was busy setting up something that looked like a time bomb. When Lunick saw this, he rushed over to the guy's side and tackled him to the ground.

"That'll teach you to mess with me. Minun, you go help Pikachu and Ash while I disarm this bomb (Mi minun!)" the little electrical rabbit immediately jumped off the boy's shoulder to aid Ash and his pal. "Ok… let's see…… I've never seen a bomb like this before so it has to be a timer. Good… it looks like it hasn't been activated yet. That's a relief" but then suddenly, he noticed that the man he just knocked out had risen again to do battle. In a move that surprised even Lunick himself, the knight leader pulled out a sword from his sheath and sliced the table that was near the Ranger's position. "Whoa!"

"Insolent child!" the guy cursed, "The Order of Malak will not tolerate your kind! Perish!" but Lunick's superior agility made him a target not easily hit. He was able to dodge the next blow but not without some damage to his clothing. "Come back here heathen! Come back here so I may cut you in half!"

"Gee nice offer, maybe later" Lunick joked before taking the bomb out of its position. "By the way, I'm keeping this as a souvenir, later!"

"Wait! Come back with that bomb!" seeing that the boy was faster, the leader whistled to his soldiers, "Knights! Forget that brat and get that ranger!" immediately the squadron began to move onto Lunick's position, cutting him off from the exit. "I have you now, Pokemon Ranger"

"Uh oh… looks like I'm in a bit of a pickle"

"Throw me the explosive, and I might just spare your life along with that child"

"Why do I get a feeling that I shouldn't believe you" the ranger shot back feeling confident.

"I'm a man of my word…"

Outgunned, outnumbered and outmatched, Lunick had to admit that there really wasn't anyway in getting out of this fight. He was cornered and so was Ash. After thinking of his options for a minute, the boy decided to just… 'give up' in a way. "Alright… I surrender…" the ranger stated as he raised his hands up.

"But Lunick…!" Ash muttered. But just when the boy was about to jump down to save him, he noticed the ranger giving him a wink sign, meaning that he has a plan in store. With a move that surprised even the gods themselves the young ranger threw the bomb right out of the window and off the cliff where it could do no damage.

"Minun, now!" immediately the little electrical rabbit began emitting a large quantity of electricity which somehow tapped into the carriage's light output. In a few seconds the light bulbs began to flicker and after a moment they all began exploding, creating small sparks that looked like flash-bangs.

"Ahh my eyes! I can't see!"

"Where'd they go? Someone catch them! Ooooff!" with the knights momentarily blinded, Lunick quickly began dispatching them one by one with his fists. Ash also helped but since he didn't have much upper body strength, he took some of the plates on the buffet table and whacked the nearest enemy that he could find.

Once all the bad guys were down Lunick gave a thumbs up to the boy. "Great work Ash (Mi mi!) Heh… yeah you too Minun. Come on Ash, let's get out of here before more of them come"

"Right" the boy nodded before following the ranger to the adjacent carriage.

But little did they know that the leader of the squad was still up… barely. "Uh… curses… beaten by a bunch of brats" he pulled out a device from his jacket which looked a lot like a detonator with its safety button still on. "I guess one explosive will have to do" as he smirked, he pressed the button.

Click…

BOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!!

**(Outside train 101)**

When the explosion occurred Spenser, who was still holding onto his pal Fearow, saw one of the adjacent carriage exploded. Luckily the explosion only happened at the connectors which was probably uninhabited right now. The explosion wasn't big but it still made him a bit concerned. "What the? Was that… an explosion?" having worries plastered all over his face, the veteran ranger looked at his wrist watch communicator to see what was happening. "Lunick, Solana, report in! What's going on in there?"

But sadly there was nothing but static noise in return. "Lunick, Solana, report! (static) Darn it! What in the world is going on here?!" but just as he followed the train, he suddenly noticed a strange object atop one the VIP carriages which seemed rather too high-tech to be civilian use. "Hmm? What's that?" as he took a closer inspection, he could see that there was a strange radar dish planted onto of the small device. "Is that… a radio jammer? (pause) Fearow, get me as close as you can to the train. (Kweeee!)"

The flying Pokemon gladly comply to its master's request and landed him right on top of the last carriage where the special cargo was placed. "Good work Fearow, I'll take it from here. Go on and wait for my call (Kweee!)" with the bird Pokemon gone to higher grounds, Spenser quickly made a dash towards the jamming device atop the VIP carriage so that he could reestablish contact with his rangers.

But little did he know that his every move was being monitored by some of the knights who were still flying in the sky. "Squad three, there's a Pokemon Ranger heading straight towards the jamming device. Stop him at all cost!"

"Roger…"

And right when Spenser was about to reach the VIP carriage, several iron tipped arrows flung from the sky and landed right next to his foot. If he did not step on that second he would've been badly wounded by now. "What the? Arrows?" as he looked up to the sky, he suddenly noticed that there were several Staraptors and Pigeots in the sky with knights riding on their backs. "Who in legend's name are they?" but apparently the ones he was talking about weren't exactly in the mood to chat. Instead, they again fired multiple arrows at him which he skillfully dodged with ease. "Darn… at this rate, I'll be dead before I even reach it. Fearow, hyper beam now!"

The ranger's partner Pokemon quickly unleashed a powerful beam attack at the attackers but sadly the attack was only a covering fire so it did not really hit any of them.

"You three handle that Fearow!" the leader of the flying squad ordered to his knights, "The rest of you, with me!"

"Ho!" immediately the group split up and began attacking their targets at their own discretion.

"Great, more trouble!" Spenser cursed as he moved away from the knights. But surprisingly, the knights seemed to have discarded from their saddles and mounted right down to face the ranger head on. Though much to Spenser's gratitude he was still outnumbered six to one not to mention they were also heavily armed with swords and crossbows. "Oh boy… looks like I'm gonna have to earn my pay this time. Oh well… I guess a little exercise can help. Bring it on!" when the first two knights charged in, the veteran ranger just simply gently pat the blades away and shoved his hand right onto their chins which sent them two feet off the ground. After that they landed back on the roof of the carriage completely unconscious. "Alright… who's next?"

**(Back inside the carriage)**

After the explosion occurred, Ash and Lunick considered themselves lucky to have survived that blast. The fire caught onto Pikachu's tail for a moment but was quickly doused out by a glass of water. "Are you ok Ash?" Lunick asked to which the boy nodded in reply.

"Yeah… I think so…" but as Ash looked back at the carriage he realized that the fire will soon catch onto the next carriage if it isn't doused out in ten or so minutes. With haste, he quickly grabbed the fire extinguisher from the wall and began putting out the fire from his side of the room. "We have to put out the fire before it catches onto the next cabin. Lunick, don't you have any water Pokemon on you?"

"There's not a single wild Pokemon on this train Ash. I don't think I can be much of use here" but then suddenly he noticed Dawn and Zoey coming from the VIP carriage.

"Ash!" the two girls said in unison.

"Dawn? Zoey? What are you two doing here?" Ash wondered.

"We were worried when we heard the explosion" Zoey replied, "What's going on? Who's attacking us?"

"I don't know either" the boy replied honestly, "But we need to put out this fire fast"

"Well then leave it to me" Dawn said proudly, "Piplup, Buneary, come on out!" immediately Piplup and Buneary, a bunny like Pokemon appeared, "Alright, Piplup, bubble beam, Buneary, ice beam!" immediately the two attacks fired off, dousing the fire a little bit.

"Great work Dawn!" Zoey praised before taking a Pokeball out from her pocket. "Shellos, I choose you!" a pink water snail like Pokemon instantly appeared with a smile on its cute face. "Shellos, use mud bomb now!" and with a volley of mud, the fire was quickly pushed back to the food court where it originated from. "Alright!"

"Awesome work you two!" Ash cheered on, "This should buy us some time before we head back to the back cabin"

The mere mention of the rear carriage quickly got Lunick into thinking. He knew that the attackers were after the precious cargo that was stashed at the rear of the train, but to attack the train from all sides was just plain silly. If they had just focused on the back cabin, they would've made it out of here a long time ago. There was a small chance that they might not have known where the cargo was so they just assaulted the train to search every cabin, but that was a long shot idea. On the other hand, everything that had been happening could've just been all a…

"A diversion…" the young ranger muttered, "This attack is nothing more but I distraction!" he quickly opened his wristband communicator to see if his partner was ok. "Solana, this is Lunick, I think this attack is just a diversion, do you read me? (static) Darn… it looks like I still can't get a signal. They must be using some kind of jamming device to block all communication to the outside. We have to get back and see if everyone's ok"

"Sounds like a plan to me" Ash nodded before following the ranger to the rear carriage.

But then Dawn remembered something, "Oh Ash, wait. Here… take this" she gently handed the boy his Pokeball belt back. "You might need it"

"Thanks Dawn, I owe ya one" and with that they quickly made their way towards the rear carriage where the main fight was going to be held.

**(Food court)**

Back at the food court, the knight squadron that had just been recently knocked out were getting back on their feet. The battle with Ash and Lunick was completely unexpected, but the results were understandable. After the knights were back on their feet, Shani, the leader of the platoon arrived to see what was going on.

"What happened here?" she demanded to know.

The leader of the knight squad approached her, "Sorry for the delay ma'am. We encountered one of the Pokemon Rangers and a Pokemon trainer with an extremely power Pikachu. They defeated us, but we were able to complete our mission"

"Two simply hooligans and a bunch of Pokemon were able to defeat twelve fine knights of the Order? Ridiculous" she groaned annoyingly. "It seems like I'll have to deal with you lot later when we get back to the castle. Prepare to move out, we're going to assault the carriage!" but then suddenly, the door leading to the center carriage opened up revealing officer Jenny and several other police forces.

"Hold it right there criminals!" Jenny ordered, "You are all under arrest in the name of the law! Don't try to resist or we will use force!"

Shani groaned out even louder than before when the police showed up. She thought that her plan would go smoothly without much of a hitch but it looks like no plan goes in a straight line. "Hmph… pathetic humans. You don't even know what our objective truly is and yet you do all within your power to hinder us. I don't know why the god even allowed you to exist" with a single motion of her hand, the tables and chairs lying on the floor began to float in the air like they were being carried telepathically. "Be gone… from my sight" and with a wave of her hand, the object flung fight off and onto Jenny and her troops. The chairs flew around them like a spinning mini tornado and the wooden tables broke apart due to the velocity of the wind currents.

With the guards distracted at the moment, Shani turned her attention back to the opposite gate which was still burning by the cause of the explosion. But just as she walked close to the area, the fire seemed to be avoiding her, like they were scared of her or something. Unharmed by the flames, Shani and her knights were able to make it through without a problem.

**(With Ash and co)**

As Ash and his companions made it back to the second rear most carriage, they were immediately greeted by Solana and several guards along with Kenny, Nando, Brock and a few other VIP trainers and coordinators.

"Ash!" Brock yelled with glee. "I'm so glad that you guys are safe. I was getting worried when I heard that explosion. Are you guys ok?"

"Yeah we're fine" Ash answered for them. But then he quickly noted Lunick.

"Solana, is everything alright here?"

"Yeah" the female ranger answered back with a smirk, "There were a few baddies who were trying to sneak in but I was able to get them" she gestured to the three knights who were tied up along the corner. "Do you think they're here for the package?" she asked in a whisper tone.

"I think so" was his answer, "There's no other explanation for it. Why else would they cause all this commotion? By the way, have you been able to contact the chief?"

Solana shook her head in reply, "No… all communication seemed to be jammed at the moment. I can't contact anyone through my cell phone either. (pause) If they're here for the package, then we have to unhook the carriage. We can't let more people get involve in this. It's our job as Pokemon Rangers"

"Right… I think that's the best plan we have at this moment" Lunick agreed. "Ash, can you help me for a minute?" he gestured to the young Pokemon trainer who was resting on one of the crates.

"Uh… sure" he answered. "What do you need?"

"We need to unhook this carriage from the train" he explained, "If we can somehow separate ourselves from the rest of the train, we should be able to meet up with my boss Spenser and the rest of the Pokemon Rangers"

Ash thought for a moment and looked at the risks that came with the course of action before answering back. "Alright… I'll help. Tell me what to do"

"Great! Follow me!" the two of them quickly made their way towards the connecting section of the carriage in hopes of unhooking the trailer so that they can avoid the knights and keeping the civilians away from harm. When Lunick opened up the door, the wind quickly rushed in the room, blowing everything with a great current. Even Dawn's skirt began to lift up slightly but she managed to pull it down not letting anyone see her undies. "Alright Ash, these are the control mechanism that are holding the trailers together. We need to pull both of them at the same time so that the carriage won't lose its balance and tilt off the cliff. Ok?"

"Got it!" Ash answered as he pulled out his Pokeball. "Gligar, I choose you!" a pink bat like Pokemon appeared in a flash licking its lips and winking at its master as it always does. "Gligar, I need your help with these, can you give me a hand? (Gli? Gligar!) Alright, we're ready Lunick!"

"Good! Alright… on the count of three, we pull. One… two… three!" and with all their strength combined, Ash and Lunick pulled out the cords that connected the trailers together and freed themselves from the rest of the train. It was hard at first since the thing obviously needed some sort of device to successfully pull it out, and to use sheer strength was just plain crazy. But in the end they did it. "Alright! We did it!"

But their cheer of victory was soon cut short when they noticed a girl probably in her mid-teens looking from the connecting door of train. She was wearing a white hoodie and the hood covered up most of her face so they were unable to determine how she looked like. But with the robes she was wearing the two of them could tell that she was also part of the group that attacked them earlier.

"Hey… who's that?" Ash wondered as he looked at her. With their trailer slowing down and the train going faster, they were sure that they were going to escape without any worries.

But for some reason, Ash felt that something was still deeply wrong. And for once in his life, he actually hated it when he was right.

Shani, the knight lieutenant pulled out a Pokeball from her pocket and tossed it in the air. "Ariados, come and serve your master!" a spider like Pokemon appeared wearing full iron armor with The Order insignia on its chest. "Now Ariados, use web attack and haul those vermins back!" Ariados gladly obeyed his master's orders and fired a solid sticky web onto the supply carriage carrying the gang and began pulling it back in.

"Uh oh!" Ash gasped, "Looks like we're in for a tough fight. Got any ideas Lunick?"

"I'm open to suggestions"

"Alright then. Pikachu, thunderbolt on Ariados! (Pi Ka Chu!!)" a lightning attack soared onto the spider Pokemon, paralyzing it in the process, but the web that was stuck on its rear refuse to give in. "Alright, Pikachu, keep it up!"

"Tch… a futile effort" Shani grumbled as she pulled out a crossbow from her back.

Lunick saw this and quickly turned a horrified face, "Ash, look out!" the crossbow bolt nearly hit the poor boy on the shoulder if Lunick had not warned him about the weapon. "Looks like they have weapons of their own now… come on, let's get back to the others"

"Right" Ash agreed knowing full well that he had never dealt with weapons before in his life. Sure he may have handled a baseball bat or a golf club, but those were only during special occurrences. When the two of them got back into the supply wagon they quickly closed and barricaded the door to prevent the enemies from entering.

"Alright, that should buy us some time" Lunick groaned as he pushed some of the heavy crates onto the door. "Is there anything else we can use to hold them off?"

Solana shook her head in reply, "We used up everything already. I got the guards move the guests to the back vehicle. We should be able to hold them off until the boss arrives"

"I sure hope so" Brock replied holding his chin, "With all these traps we set up, we should be able to last about ten or fifteen minutes"

"We should also put those who can't fight at the back" Ash suggested, "We'll have a lot of fighting room after that"

"The guard carriage at the back end should do perfectly" Lunick agreed, "They'll be safe from those attackers and they'll be able to tell when our backup will arrive. I still can't contact Spenser or anybody other Pokemon Rangers so we're on our own until then" with the plan agreed, Ash, Solana and Lunick split up to do several tasks at once. If their guesses were right, they probably had about two or three minutes until the knights showed up on their doorstep.

Brock had settled some traps on the carriage using whatever tools and gadgets he could get his hands on. While Solana was busy finding some recruits from the civilians, Lunick quickly gathered up the remaining guards stationed there to effectively use their talents. Once everyone was in place, Ash approached his group. "Is everything ok Brock?" he noticed the squinty eyed trainer tightening some loose knots.

"Yeah, just making sure that this last one works" he replied leaving the trap be, "Just cut this rope and this pile of trash should fall onto them like a haystack in a barrel I just hope that it's enough"

"I hope so too" Ash consulted feeling slightly disheartened. But before the boy could say another word, a sudden bang on the front carriage alerted his attention, "Oh no… they're already here!"

"Everyone, brace the door!" Solana ordered, "Lunick, you get the rest of the people out of here!"

"Right! Everyone else, follow me slowly" the boy then quickly began marching the civilians out of the carriage and onto the guard carriage at the rear end so that they wouldn't get hurt during the attack.

"Brock, you take the others and go too" Ash ordered. "We'll deal with these guys"

Ash was never one to give orders to his friends before, but this night seemed to have forced his mind into doing it. He was preparing for a duke off against some really tough opponents and it seemed like they only play the game if they are to play for keeps. Brock knew that he had been through more dangerous situations in his life than this one, but it didn't stop him from worrying about his little buddy's safety.

As Brock looked to his friend, he knew that Ash was serious. He didn't want others to get hurt if things should go wrong. After a long look, he finally nodded, "Alright. Be careful Ash" he then approach the rest of the gang who were busy following the civilians. "Dawn, let's go. It'll be better if we follow the people at the back"

"Huh? But what about Ash?" Zoey questioned feeling a bit left out of the whole picture.

"He'll be following us later" Brock knew that if he told them what Ash was really planning they would immediately decline on going back. So he lied, "He still needs to discuss something with Solana and Lunick so maybe we should head on first so we won't cause any problems for the others"

"O… ok…" Dawn replied uncertainly. She was feeling rather strange as she looked at the boy in question. It was as if she had this dreaded curse deep in her like, like a feeling that she would never be able to see Ash again. And that alone made her feel like a hole was being made in her soul. An echo in her heart. Though she reluctantly agreed to Brock's suggestion, she just hoped that she would see him again at the end of this journey.

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On the other side of the train, Shani and her knights were preparing to breach in the rear carriage as Ariados tows it back into range. "Alright men, prepare to attack!" the leader of knight squadron ordered as he unsheathed his sword. The rest of the group complied with his orders and drew out their weapons as well.

Shani knew that the guards and rangers were there, but with their deficient strength in numbers and morale they could prove to be an easy threat to take care of. But for some strange reason, she had a feeling that the opponents in that carriage feels like a pack of beast cornered with no place left to run. And like all predatorial animals she had encountered in her life, Shani knew that they were going to fight for their survival or die trying.

But just before should could even conjure a solution, her cell phone began to ring, "Yes?" she answered.

"Lady Shani, the Pokemon Rangers… one of them was able to sneak on board" the knight on the other line explained, "We're having a little problem containing him"

"What about the engine train?"

There were sounds of struggle happening in the background for a moment before the knight could reply. "We still have control. But we don't know how long. The Pokemon trainers have joined forces with them and we're having trouble. (to the knights) Everyone, pull back to the second carriage and prepare to withdraw! (back to Shani) We'll hold them for as long as we can my lady"

"Hold your position at the engine room" Shani ordered back, "Once we have the package we'll retreat afterwards"

"Yes ma'am!" and after that Shani cut the line before dialing another number.

"Team four, are you in position? (chatter) Good… it looks like we'll have to go with plan C after all. You know what to do. (chatter) Don't fail me and good fortunes to both of us"

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When the train finally collided onto the carriage, the door that had been barricaded by Lunick and Solana burst into flames like an oven left unattended for too long. In moments, the knights quickly began pouring into the wagon, in hopes of swarming against the rangers.

"NOW!!" Lunick signaled to the group of trainers that were hiding behind one of the crates. "Everyone, push!" with a single nudge, the pile of crates and barrels began rolling against the knights, knocking the vanguard units down for the count. "Alright!"

"Ugh! What cheap tricks!" the knight leader grunted as he banded his troops together. "Don't fear men. The lives of others are counting on us! Charge!"

With the main wave coming, Lunick, Solana and Ash quickly pulled out their Pokemons to even up the odds. "Pikachu/Plusle/Minun, use thunderbolt!" immediately the three electric Pokemons fired up their electric attacks which stunned the knights altogether. The other trainers who did not summon their Pokemons quickly grab the nearest weapons they could find and tried to use it against the knights. Whether it was a wooden stick, gold club, antique vase worth a million euros, or a plain wooden plank with a nail on it, it didn't matter. All that mattered now was they could at least defend themselves from the attackers. The police officers on the other hand however had their tonfas and night stick to whack their opponents. To think that it would kill them to bring firearms at least (there are no references of guns and other firearms in the Pokemon series, except for the first season)

When the knights finally lost their momentum of their attack, the trainers and police officers quickly counter charged them to get advantage over the situation. "Take them down!"

"Don't give them a chance to fight back!"

"Take this and that and this and some of that you… you… bad guy!"

"Hyaa!"

"Arghhh!"

The voices all around were so loud and so confusing that no one could tell who was winning anymore. But Ash kept his wits about and kept his position behind the barricaded door in hopes of being the last man standing in the fight.

**(At the guard carriage)**

Dawn, Zoey, Brock, Kenny, Nando and the rest of the civilians who did not want to fight were sitting idly at the rearest end of the train in silence. They could hear sounds of combat coming from the neighboring carriage and none of the voices there were very reassuring to them. Dawn was constantly pondering about Ash's safety. She thought that he would follow them in, but instead it looked like the Pokemon Rangers had barred their escape route heavily with all the heavy loads they could get their hands on. From her point of view, it looked as if they were going in some sort of final mission and retreat was not one of their options. It was a fight to the finish.

"It sounds like they're fighting already" Brock motioned as he made sure that the door was tightly shut.

As the sound of battle grew louder and more violent, Dawn began to worry even more. "I hope Ash is alright… (Pi… piplup)" Piplup tried to reassure her master by patting her leg, but it failed. The girl could not tell why, but her heart seemed to be sinking lower and lower with each passing moment as the two sides clashed. Her eyes were already on the verge of tears but she still managed to hold it for awhile.

"Hey, don't worry Dawn" Kenny smiled at her affectionately as he tapped her shoulder. "I'm sure he'll be fine"

"But…"

"I wouldn't worry too much about him" Zoey interrupted her, "He may be hard headed, but I'm sure that he can handle himself"

"Zoey…"

"Of all the trainers I have met during my journey here in the Shinou region, Ash outshines all of them" Nando added smiling all the same. "There is no way that a sun as bright as his… would die out so easily"

"Besides this is Ash we're talking about here" Brock smirked back, "He's probably been through a lot worst. And not to mention he also has his Pokemons with him. I'm sure he'll be ok. Sometimes it's better just to put faith in him"

"If its Ash fighting out there, I'm sure he won't let us down" Zoey added. "So stop worrying"

"You guys…" Dawn felt a little better from listening to their hints and gladly smiled back. They were right. Ash was always one to get things done, and he had been through a lot worst than what these knights had to offer. He had faced the true might of gods and leveled the playing fields with his cunning mind. With his sixth sense and his unique ability to survive against great odds, he was practically invincible. "Thanks… I feel a lot better now"

But just when they were easing down a bit, a sudden explosion occurred just right outside, which made them all turn their attention to the windows. Everyone who were standing immediately fell down after the shockwave hit them. "What was that?!" Kenny groaned as he stood back on his feet.

Brock took the liberty of being the first to look out the window and noted that a thick clog of smoke was emanating from the front car. "Oh no… the front car is on fire! There seemed to be some kind of explosion!" he then began to see that the train began to slow down back to its regular speed, but he couldn't really tell if this was a good thing or a bad thing. "It looks like the whole train is under attack. If this keeps up, the whole mountain side might be destroyed"

But just when Brock was about to head back in to help his friends, another voice came up to him from the roof. "Hey, you there. Can you give us a hand?"

Brock, looked up and suddenly a strange yet friendly face appeared before him. "Hey… you're…"

**(Back at the supply car)**

Lunick, Solana and Ash were fighting viciously like a cornered pack of animals fighting it off to last man. To Lunick's surprise, he was amazed on how long they've been able to hold the knights back at the door. Some of the trainers that had been cut or bruised withdrew to safe location and allowed the others to do the fight. Surprisingly, no one had been seriously injured yet and the knights seemed to be doing poorly thanks to the traps that Brock set up for them.

With their slightly heavier weapons and the tight space and not to mention the amounts of boxes and barrels littered in the area, the knights could not act as efficiently as they thought they could. Their abilities had been hampered slightly and thanks to the Pokemon trainers help, they had to slowly withdraw back into the connecting doors. "Alright everyone, we're beating them back!" Solana cheered as both her and Minun hopped with glee.

"Alright, great work Pikachu!" Ash hugged his little yellow friend as the last of the knights withdrew out. "We did it!" but just as the rest of the group were out cheering, their victory dance was cut extremely short when a spider web appeared out of nowhere and pinned the police officers down on the floor.

"AHH!"

It was then, the knight commander Shani decided to show her face in, "Worthless… if you want something done right then you'll have to do it yourself" she grumbled as she led the last remnants of her forces inside.

"Darn it, Pikachu, thunderbolt one more time!" the little mouse gladly obeyed and fired another jolt of electricity. But to their surprise, the attack seemed to have just bounced off the girl like she was being protected by an invisible force field or something. "What the?! (Pika?!)"

"Tch… useless" Shani groaned as she lifted her hand up front. With a little incantation, the Police officers and trainers that were battling the knights began to float like they were being carried by some telepathic force.

"Wahh! Help! Get me down!"

"What's going on?!"

"What's happening?"

"… is she… is she doing that?!" Solana said afraid. Luckily she was not one of those who were floating in the air.

"Be gone…" Shani muttered before flinging the trainers in a ricochet around the carriage. By the time she stopped, Ash, Solana and Lunick and their Pokemons were the only ones left standing. "You must be the Pokemon Rangers" Shani began as she inspected the two rangers hiding behind the barricades. "I must say that I am impressed that you were able to hold off my knights. For this I congratulate you. (pause) But I'm afraid that your mission is over. Stand aside and allow us to take the package and we won't harm you"

"Not a chance! (Plu sle!)" Lunick replied instantly forcing himself to block the path to the next carriage where the said package was located. He was trying to become a human shield. "The chief assigned me on this mission and I'm not gonna let some crazy girl through! If you want the package so bad then you'll just have to get it through my dead body!" usually his little heroic speech would inspire a lot of civilians to come to his aid, but sadly the only friends he had in that place was Ash and Solana.

But then to his surprise, Shani simply smirked at him as she waved her arm in front of the ranger. "I think we can arrange that" she cooed to him before flinging a powerful shockwave attack which literally sent him fyling and breaking the door to the other room.

"Lunick!" Ash and Solana said in unison as they withdrew back into the next carriage. "Lunick, are you alright?" Solana lifted the wounded boy by the waist and pulled him to a safe corner away from the knights.

"Yeah… I'm ok… (Minun!) (Plu—s!)" the ranger replied, but as he tried to get up, his shoulder suddenly began to ache. It looks as if it was dislocated. "Arghh!"

"You're hurt…" Solana comforted him. But it was cut short when Shani and her knights made their grand reappearance.

"I'm not usually this merciful… boy" the female knight threatened, "But if you know what's good for you, you'll stay out of our way" the rangers weren't really much in a position to bargain, but it looks like Shani was holding all the cards in her hands today. "Now give us the package and I promise to spare your lives"

"Not on my watch, you don't!" Ash said suddenly as he stopped a few feet in front of the girl. "You're gonna have to go through me if you want to get whatever you're here for"

"Ash!" Solana tried to tell the boy to back down but knowing Ash, he probably wouldn't even listen to the phrase 'give up'

Shani looked down to the boy with a strange petrifying gaze. Her death stare would usually frighten even the mightiest of Charizards but the boy in front of her didn't even budge an inch. There was not a hint of fear in his eyes nor his soul shake even slightly. "You are either very brave or very stupid, child" the knight groaned, "Every second you defy us, only makes the world's end come even closer"

"W… world's end?" Ash mimicked, trying to decipher what the girl was trying to say. But of course, his brain wasn't exactly like Sherlock Holmes. But before he could even conjure up an explanation, another voice barged into the room unannounced.

"Hold it right there!" Spenser, the leader of the Pokemon Ranger group kicked through the opposite door and entered along with Brock and Dawn. "Not a step closer or you'll regret it for the rest of your lives"

"Chief!" Solana and Lunick shouted his nickname altogether.

Spenser smiled back at them, but when he noticed the wound on Lunick's shoulder, he turned a hateful eye upon the knights. To harm the two of his crew that he almost considered them his children, made his blood boil and his muscles stiff. "You ok Lunick…?" he asked slightly worried.

"Y… yeah… just a little"

And in a few moments, the three groups stood right in the same carriage with the package down right in the center. Ash, Lunick and Solana were nearest to the 'untouched safe' and the other two groups were on opposite sides of the room.

"There is no hope for you now. Give me the package… boy" she demanded Ash, "You'll be saving both of us a lot of trouble"

"Hey, your fight is with US, leave the kid out of this!" Spenser barked back.

"Please… we outnumber you ten to one. How could you possibly fight against me?" Shani smirked back as she raised her hand to prepare another attack. "But as much as I like to stay and chat, I'm afraid I have other duties to attend to. You understand…"

"Oh I think it's you who doesn't understand" Spenser grinned from ear to ear which made the girl's smile fall. "I meant… US!" immediately twelve Pokemon Rangers entered the carriage from the windows like moths to a flame. Right then, the fight finally tipped onto their side. "Even you guys are no match against all the Pokemon Rangers of Ringtown. Give up and I might just let you off easy"

Looking at the odds turn against her, Shani immediately let out a 'hmph' sound as a gesture of irritation. One could already tell that she wasn't once who would often get disobeyed upon. "Tch… it looks like my plan worked after all" Spenser's grin immediately fell off his face when he noticed that Shani wasn't going to surrender. "You have all been a great entertainment for me today; I had a lot of fun. Perhaps we should meet again one day for another battle"

"What are you…?" Spenser tried to see through her words but could see not one hint of bluff coming from her voice. But when he turned his gaze back to the package, he noticed that there was an empty whole on where the safe was placed in. "What the!? The safe!" apparently when they were all busy fighting against the knights, two undercover knight agents snuck beneath the carriage and dug a hole through the metal bottom, taking not only the safe but the metal plate that the safe was nailed upon as well. Whoa… talk about a heavy load.

"Tata… rangers" were the last words Shani spoke as she and her knights leaped back into their Pigeots and Staraptors.

"Hey, wait!" Ash tried to follow them but obviously a man of his caliber couldn't exactly fly without mystical powers. "Darn…"

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As the knights of the Order made their triumphant withdrawal from the train, Shani took the lead and approach the two knights that made out with the super secret package. "Did it went well?" she questioned as they continued to open the safe.

"Yes milady. The plan went as smoothly as you said it would" the knight briefed, "We have the eye… right… here" when the safe finally opened up, Shani took the liberty of being the first to see what was inside. But when she took a little peek… her eyes widened with horror, anger and fear. "Hmm?"

"It's… it's… empty (huh?) It's empty you imbeciles! Look!" when the knights took a look inside, they soon realize that the safe has been opened once already from the rear end.

"Let's turn around! We'll strip that train inside out if we have to!!" Shani yelled out as she turned her Staraptor around 160 degrees. "Knights… let's go!"

"B… but how can that be?" said another of the knights. "If the 'eye' isn't here then where else could it be?"

**(Supply carriage)**

Firework Box…

Team Rocket, the most pathetic group of criminals ever to walk the face of the earth were hiding inside one of the crates in the supply carriage where the first battle had been previously fought. After they took the item from the safe, they thought that it would be best to lay low until they finally get an all clear sign from the outside. It was an ingenious plan, but one that was not carefully analyzed.

"This is great" James began, "Steal the loot then hide in one of the crates and wait until the coast in clear! I must say that this must be one of our greatest plans yet!"

"Ow! James, stop stepping on my toe, you're making my foot sore!" Jessie, groaned holding her toe. Unfortunately for them, the crate did not offer that much space for them to stretch their legs in. "Ugh… of all the places to hide why a box? Why couldn't we hide in the VIP lounge for a change and have a nice jacuzzi while we're at it?"

"Hey don't be a pain in the shin Jess" Meowth added. "With all the money we'll be making with this priceless jewel, we'll be making a fortune" he then showed them a giant shiny jewel which looked a lot like a spherical orb or something. "Hey… what's this? There seems to be some kind of writing on it but I can't see a thing in this dark place. Hey James, you got a light?"

"Sorry, but I don't smoke" the blue haired boy replied, "But I did manage to find a matchbox from the souvenir shop back in the station" but when James lit the match up, they soon noticed that the box they were in was a firework box on route to the Pokemon stadium in which to light up the night. "Uh oh……"

**(With Ash and the gang)**

In a matter of seconds, another giant explosion occurred, tearing the roofs of both supply carriages, making everyone in the room turn their attention to the sky as the fireworks fired upon them. Lights of different colors filled the clouds, outshining the stars by just a few milliseconds, creating a beautiful pattern of streams and smoke. "Hey, what's that?" Ash muttered as the fireworks lit up.

But then he soon noticed that the knights seemed to be having trouble avoiding the rockets and the larger fireworks.

Another few seconds later, Ash noted a round object the size of a snow-globe falling from the sky. Having his legs react upon his instinct, he grabbed the object with his bare hands, just before it hit the floor. "Phew…"

"That's it!" Spenser muttered loudly, "That's the package! The Eye of Arceus!"

"The what?" Ash tried to mimic but his ears couldn't really repeat what Spenser had just said.

"Ash… please give that to me" Spenser requested holding his hand out slowly, "That is the package that we Pokemon Rangers were protecting. I'd like to have it back now"

"Uh… ok" Ash complied, but not without feeling a strange sensation coming from the orb.

"_It… is… time…"_

"Huh?" the strange and ghostly voice echoed through the boy's ear making him twist and turn his head around. Right after then, he handed the orb back to Spenser where he could protect it on his own.

"Thank you Ash" Spenser bowed slightly in appreciation. "Your assistance is greatly respected" but just when he was acting all polite and all, Lunick suddenly gave him a little slap on the back.

"That was awesome chief!" the blue haired ranger praised, "Hiding the real package and shooting fireworks against them was a brilliant idea. I guess you're never really out of tricks after all"

"Huh? What are you talking about? I thought you two did that"


	4. Welcome to The League

Chapter 4: Welcome to The League

**Chapter 4: Welcome to The League**

**(Celestic town) (09:00 PM)**

The once peaceful homes of Celestic town used to be a much more tranquil place. Flowers bloomed on every corner and the villagers of this harmless settlement enjoyed their lives to the fullest without any misguidance. But now… it has been turned into an egghead attraction. After the discovery of the solid pedestal and the ancient civilization of the Goros, professor Oak and his colleges from around the world travel great distances to make one of history's shadow moments, come to light.

"Here we are gentlemen" professor Takamura announced as his driver pulled over to the edge of the ruins. "This… is Celestic town. A small peaceful community dabbed at the center of the Sinnoh region. Population is quite small but it does have its own water supply"

"Fascinating" Ivy gestured as she looked through the window. "I heard that the whole village is dedicated in the preservation of the three legendary Pokemons Uxie, Mespirit and Azelf. That ruin was supposedly a temple built in their name"

"Oh, I see you've done your homework Ivy" Rowan noted, "But I must say that you are correct. This whole mountainside was a temple built in the name of those three Pokemons. But it remained a mystery on who built the whole thing. The people of Celestic town resided here for only about seventy years while the temple itself ages to almost seven hundred thousand years"

"That's even older than all the legends put together" professor Elm stated.

A few minutes later, the chief workers of the construction force came by, "Professor Takamura…" he bowed slightly, "All the procedures is operating smoothly. We just need to wait for the moving van to get here and we'll be done in no time"

Takamura rubbed his beard for moment in deep thought before replying, "Very well… carry on" and with that the chief worker dashed off to continue with his operation.

"What operation is he talking about professor Takamura?" professor Oak inquired, "Is something the matter?"

Takamura sighed, "Well………… after I reported my findings to the Pokemon Research Institute, they wanted me to transport the pedestal to the headquarters in the Pokemon stadium"

"What!?"

"I know… that was my reaction as well" the old archeologist groaned, "Transporting an old relic like that is extremely irrational……… but I guess it's for the best. Our presence here in this small town is frightening the people. I have to respect their wishes as well"

"Then… why did you bring us all the way here if you're just going to move it?" Samuel asked to which Takamura only returned with one of his famous wide teeth smile.

"I thought you all might want to take a look at it for a moment" he answered, "Come on, time's a wasting now. The truck will be here any minute" as he gestured to the small team of scientist to disembark, they slowly began making their way to the temple where nearly six dozen workers were busy digging and preserving what was left of the ruins.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As Oak, Tracey, Ivy, Elm, Rowan, Birch and Takamura all entered the ruins together flapping their white lab suit around themselves. The temple that was once used to worship gods was now turned into an excavation site full of history and stories more ancient than mankind itself. Small support columns revealed themselves under the ancient earth, tapestries and wall markings slowly became clearer after dusting off the dirt and stone marbled cut by old skillful artisans rediscovered.

But of all the stones, all the ancient history buried under these rocks… none of them stood out more than the pedestal of the prophecy itself. After it had been unearthed by the diggers the workers had been charged with great care not to damage the object, if that was even possible. The solid rock that the pedestal was made of was almost indestructible by human hands. Though it may be indestructible, it was still movable.

As Takamura and the scientists moved closer to the ruins, the archaeologist gestured to one of the workers to open up the lights. When the UV lights were lit, professor Oak was probably the one who was most amazed by its awesomeness. He pedestal stood nearly the size of three regular men and as thick on almost every side. There were markings on one side, tapestries on the other, carvings on the next and one single emblem dabbed at the last one.

"My word…" Samuel said finally. "This is…… this is amazing! This truly is one of the Goronian historical artifacts!"

"It is nearly identical to the one we found on the Orange Islands" Ivy noted, "Although I have to say that this one is a lot bigger than the one there. A lot… bigger"

Among the other scientists, Tracey also seemed baffled by this revelation and began taking pictures of the tapestries just in case professor Oak needed some photographic proofs. "Wow… this is amazing!"

"This is only but a taste of what we have discovered my friends" Takamura motioned, "Most of the relics and artifacts that we've discovered here have already been sent to the Pokemon stadium about two days ago. I urged them not to, but they insisted that we move everything here to a safer facility where they can be studied. However… I thought you all should get to see the facility first hand"

"It's humongous" Rowan was having a hard time just trying to get all the details into his brain. Who knows what secrets and history was written in this pedestal? Only time will probably tell…

**(Time skip) (Sinnoh league stadium train station) (07:20 AM) **(Place based on Shibuya Tokyo)

The familiar horn of train 101 sounded in the train station depot that morning. After the horrific attack by the knights, the train managed to arrive at its destination far quicker than it was supposed to. Thanks to lost of two supply carriages, a food court and six hundred kilograms worth of cargo, the train was able to travel even faster than before.

By the time the train docked into the station, police officers, paramedics and firefighters hastily swarmed the area trying to provide what aid they could offer. But while they were all busy unloading the passengers, Ash and the gang, including the Pokemon Rangers departed from the station with the cargo visible and still in their hands…… or at least on Ash's hands.

"Phew… what a trip" that was the sound of Lunick groaning as he swung himself on one of the station benches. "I'm so tired, I think I need a vacation"

"You're not the only one" Solana joined the boy by his side and laid down lazily. Plusle and Minun soon joined in with their partners and made a face that was similar to theirs.

"I guess that's not surprising after what you guy's been through" Spenser chuckled, happy to see his best duo were alive and safe. "I'll recommend you two for a week leave after we get back to Ringtown"

"Yeah… we could go with that" the two rangers agreed.

Spenser soon turned his attention to Ash and troupe who were still standing idly nearby. "I contacted the Pokemon Research Institute about a minute ago" he explained to them, "They'll be sending someone to pick up the package so I think it would be a lot safer if I hole onto it for now"

"Huh? Oh… ok" Ash nodded before handing the small crystal to him, "But… what is it anyway?"

"The scientists call it the Eye of Arceus" Spenser answered as he held the crystal in his hands. "I'm not really sure what it does but if those guys that attacked us went to all that trouble for this… then I'm guessing it must have some value"

"Hmm…" Brock motioned as he took a closer look at the object they risked their lives for. "Well… it looks just like a plain old crystal ball to me. It's not even as big as my hand"

"Well I'll leave that theory to the scientists. Right now, I just want to get to a Pokemon Center and get some rest. My partner Fearow is getting tired"

"You have a Fearow?" Ash inquired to which the old veteran nodded in reply.

"Yup, he's flying right above us right now" as the whole gang looked up, they immediately saw one single flying Pokemon circling around their heads like a lookout. The Fearow that flew above them flapped its wings gracefully and squeaked from time to time to keep the others on high alert. "He's been my partner ever since I joined up with the rangers a long time ago. But anyway, you guys are probably here to compete in the Sinnoh league, am I right?"

The mere mention of the Sinnoh league quickly plopped the old memory onto Ash's mind as he totally forgot the main reason of him being here. "Oh that's right! I still haven't registered for the Sinnoh league yet! I totally forgot about it!"

"Then we'd better hurry Ash" Dawn humored, "We wouldn't want to miss the competition just because we forgot to register"

"Yeah…"

"Hold on…" Spenser said quizzled, "Ash? As in Ash Ketchum from Pallet town?"

"Yeah, that's me (Pika?)"

Spenser then analyzed the boy a little more thoroughly before stating, "That's strange. Jack and Solana mentioned about you a lot of times but I imagined you'd be a little…… taller"

"Jack?" Ash said a little puzzled.

"Jack Walker, another Pokemon Ranger of mine. He said that you helped him deal with some sea pirates some time ago. He wanted to give this to you but he was busy heading off to the Johto region" he then handed Ash something that looked like a Pokemon Ranger communicator wrist band. "That's a standard Ranger communicator. It's only given to rookies when they first join the team"

"Whoa… this is awesome!" Ash was quickly dumbfounded by the gadget and without even waiting for the instruction manual he put around his arm and began fidgeting with the buttons. "My very own Pokemon Ranger communicator! Hmm… I wonder which button is for the rollout stick…"

"It doesn't have any" Solana replied gesturing to the device, "Jack said that you don't need the stylus since he knows that you already have great Pokemons with you and of all of that I think I agree with him"

"Well, I guess I don't really need something to catch Pokemons ahehehehehe" Ash rubbed the back of his head a little disappointed not to have one of those cool looking gadgets that the rangers used to capture Pokemons. "So what else can this thing do?"

"Well for one thing, it can do this" Solana then took Ash's Pokedex and inserted it onto the wristband communicator. "There… with that all the data of every Pokemon you see will be located here. It can also be used as a camera too if you need to take pictures of something. It's even got all the functions of that new Poketch everyone's been talking about"

"What?!" Dawn fumed, "That's no fair! I've been upgrading my Poketch for many months now and I barely got half of all its plans. And Ash gets all of them in just one day"

"Well like they say Dawn, things come to those who waits" Kenny humored chuckling slightly. "Besides, Ash earned that communicator anyway. Did you really fight off sea pirates Ash?"

"Well we kinda helped a little" Brock answered for him, "But Ash did most of the work during the last minute"

"Yeah kinda ahehehehehe" the young trainer rubbed his head embarrassed, "But still, this is way cool. My first Pokemon Ranger gadget!"

"It's more than just a mere gadget Ash" Spenser corrected, "That wristband doesn't only help you, but it also makes you an honorary member of Pokemon Rangers. With this you'll be able to contact any Pokemon Rangers from Ringtown. But only use it for emergencies, ok?"

"You got it, thanks Spenser"

And just when the boy was busy tinkering with his new toy, Zoey decided to speak up, "Hey Ash, I think it's high time you go register for the Sinnoh league"

"Huh? Oh yeah" again the boy's mind was in the clouds thinking of a totally unrelated topic. "I guess my head isn't with me today ahehehehe" with the gang regrouped and refreshed from the break, Ash and his friends depart from the small park to finally get themselves registered for the Sinnoh league and the Sinnoh Grand Festival.

Once the gang was finally out of sight, Lunick let out a sigh, "Well, there they go… again"

"Oh come on Lunick, don't be so lazy" Solana groaned, "We did a good job out there, you should be happy"

"Once I start my one week leave, then I'll be happy" but just when the boy was about to shift his buttox to a more comfortable position, a police van pulled over to the side with Officer Jenny being its driver. "Huh? Officer Jenny?"

"Are you three the Pokemon Rangers from Ringtown?" the officer asked, holding her gaze at them.

"That's us ma'am" Spenser replied with a salute. "Are you Officer Jenny of the Pokemon stadium?"

"That's me" once their introductions were finished, the rear of the van opened up, revealing an old scientist wearing a top hat and carrying a walking stick on his hand. From the ranger's perspective he looked like a man with great knowledge and wisdom.

"Hello Spenser, long time no see"

"Professor Hastings?" the chief said in surprise, "What are you doing here?!" the other rangers were also equally surprised to see their old egghead on the block as well. They didn't expect to see this man until they got back to Fiore.

"Oh just minding my own business that's all" the scientist known as professor Hasting replied with a smirk. He let out a small pause before continuing, "Ok, I lied ahehehehe. The committee called me here to do a little research program that they have been undergoing. I was surprised that they would a genius such as myself on this little fiasco. (sigh) I heard about your little adventure on the train. It must've been one heck of a fight to fend off such an attack"

"Oh don't praise me sir, you should praise Solana and Lunick. They were the ones who protected the people and the cargo" Spenser gestured to his two top rangers who gave out a polite salute. "However… professor… can you tell me something?"

"Shot away"

"What is the Eye of Arceus?"

**(Pokemon stadium major intersection)** (Scramble Crossing)

As Ash and his companions finally arrive at the intersection leading to the Sinnoh mega stadium, their eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets on what they saw. The stadium was packed full of trainers and coordinators all lined up to register for the competition. People were coming in and out, unofficial battles ensued almost every open area and chatters could be heard twenty four seven. The Sinnoh stadium city was now an official war zone.

"Whoa…" that was the only word that came through Ash's mouth as the stadium came into view. The gigantic size of the arena made the one in the Indigo Plateau look like a playground for the kindergartens. "Man… is that the arena?"

"Looks like it" Brock nodded as he pulled out his Sinnoh Pokemon guidebook. "It says in the guide book that the Sinnoh stadium is probably the biggest stadium in the entire country other than the Valmarian stadium of course (read my other story) It was made about forty years ago when the first Sinnoh championship was held to declare the first Elite Four. It was also rumored that the designer of the building used an old football field. Man that must be some history"

"Well then, why don't we get you signed up?" Dawn was just about to take the next step when Zoey stopped her.

"Hold it Dawn. Our registration is this way" she pointed to the group of coordinators signing up at the table nearby. "That over there is for Pokemon battles only"

"It looks like we'll have to split up then" Ash noted, "I'll go and sign up for the competition and we'll meet up again at the Pokemon center near the train station"

"I'll go and stock up on some supplies" Brock motioned to the Pokemart nearby, "I might even have the chance to get some new breeding tips from the trainers and coordinators around here"

"Oh, I might be able to help you there" Nando spoke up finally as he strummed his harp. He slowly pulled out a small book from his pouch and showed it to them. "I went back to my hometown a couple of weeks before and I found my great grandfather's record book. He was a Pokemon breeder just like you and here he kept all of his research and findings. I hope it helps"

"Now talk about lucky!" Brock exclaimed. "This will really help my research. I only wished that the words were a bit clearer" as he opened the book he noticed that most of the words were already fading and becoming almost impossible to read. "Hmm… interesting………… hmm. Very interesting"

"Well, I'm off. Later guys" and with that, Ash left the party to get himself signed in.

**(Pallet town) (Professor Oak's lab)**

Everything was peaceful at Samuel Oak's residence at that time. Since the lab was located right dabbed at the center of the village, it was easy to get to and easy to see even from a great distance. A few hours ago, this place was buzzing with the sound of the professor and his assistant packing their clothes and other necessary items for their trip, but now it was quiet as a ghost town. The professor's departure was left unannounced and sadly one girl seemed quite worried.

"Hello?" came Delia's voice from the outside, "Professor, it's me, open up" she buzzed the doorbell several times already but all she got in reply was utter silence. "Hello? Is anybody home?" seeing that no one was going to answer her call, the young woman decided to let herself in through the outer gate. The barred gates weren't exactly that tall so it was easily unlocked by just reaching your arm on the other side. "Hello? Professor Oak, I'm coming in" again all that she got in reply was the slow passing wind.

As she took slow careful leaps up the steps leading to the professor's house, she soon noticed that the place was abandoned. The lights were off, the 1st floor balcony window doors were left opened, the curtains left unchecked and papers flew everywhere. Usually this place would be as lively as a way station party, but now that it was left uninhabited, it seemed more like a haunted house on the hill.

"Hmm… that's odd" Delia muttered as she looked through the door window, "He didn't say he was going on a field trip" seeing that she was a close friend to the professor, Delia knew well on where Samuel usually leaves his spare keys when he locks himself out of the house. After a little search on several of the flower pots she soon found them right under the welcome mat, "Tee hee. Still the same old professor" she chuckled before showing herself into the place. "Hello? Professor, if you're here, please say something"

But the house was as empty as a ghost town. Papers littered everywhere thanks to the constant strong winds that gushed through the open windows. Not wanting to let another paper typhoon to occur, Delia decided to close every window down before the wind strikes again. "Oh my, it looks like that man left in a hurry" she sighed as she looked around carefully, "Oh well, I might as well tidy up before he gets back. Knowing the professor he'll probably be tired when he returns" being as an only mother as she is now, Delia was used to cleaning up messes like this all the time. In fact, this mess was probably nothing compared to what Ash can do in his room for five minutes when he was a kid. She had to clean up his room six times a day at least during that age of puberty.

Just as Delia was picking up small pieces of papers on the floor, she suddenly noticed the professor's computer go online. The sound of the CPU starting up made her jolt from her position for second. "Oh my… that scared me" she muttered to herself. "The professor must've left his computer on last night" she theorized before taking a seat, "Hmm…? Hello what's this?" since she didn't really understand how to use a computer, her luck suddenly allowed her to view a strange hidden file deep within the hard drive. "The Goronian history…… hmm… that sounds very familiar. Where have I heard that before?" having curiosity take control of her, the girl quickly began scrolling through the files that professor Rowan sent to professor Oak. She viewed them and read some of the texts, but when she came to a particular symbol, her hand suddenly froze on its own. "Oh my… what is this?"

At the beginning of time, twelve masters created the world

Their powers were equal, 'just' and balanced

The world was their canvas

Their hands were their brushes

Their powers were their colors

And the universe was their studio

But when the balance of power should shift, it is the signal of _World's End_

Embody shall the power of twelve be…

"The power of twelve?" but when she muttered that phrase silently to herself, a strange unearthly wind blew through her hair causing her to look back at the entrance. "Hello? Professor, is that you?" she could feel the presence of another person in the house. It definitely wasn't a Pokemon because she knew how Pokemon liked to make sounds once in awhile. "Is… is somebody there?" the dark elements began to spook her senses and fear began creeping through her spine almost literally. "Hey… whoever you are, this isn't funny"

…

…

…

…

Again… silence fills the air.

But just when the girl was about to head off, a loud wing flapping sound echoed from behind, causing her to shift her attention there. Her eyes were barely able to make out the figures standing out the window, but from what she can tell, it was definitely a bird Pokemon for sure. "What in the world?" slightly shaken by the surprise appearance of a large Pokemon, Delia still managed to muster the courage to go out and see what was causing all the ruckus. But when she got there, it was already too late. It was already gone. "Now that is odd…"

**(Castle Moore)**

About fifty miles off the northern coast of the Sinnoh region, in the snow islands just beyond the rough seas and deadly rocks, a castle made entirely out of stones and marble sat gracefully on the hill overlooking the beach. Its hardened structure made it strong and stern and the weather of the cold north made it tolerable against fire.

The walls around it formed a curvy lined shape around the keep and the turret towers were each armed with a deadly looking ballista that were ready to fire upon invading enemies. Knights in shining armor patrolled the ramparts diligently, anticipating an attack every minute of the way. But not only were men guarding this fortress.

Deep inside the courtyard of the castle, a number of Pokemons also wearing armors lined up at the gate as if expecting a siege to happen. On a nearby tower at the second tallest reach of the keep, a nest of flying Pokemons rested their wings there, fed and kept warm by their masters.

A modern army itself would have a hard time besieging this monstrous castle. With the combined power of man, Pokemon and nature itself, no force on earth could possibly take it within a year.

But today we take ourselves inside the castle keep where Shani, the lieutenant of the knights was being given a lecture by her superior.

"What is… the meaning of this?" said the man in white hood as he threw a small safe box onto the table. It was the same safe that Shani stole from the train earlier, but found out that the content inside had already been taken.

The girl under interrogation didn't really have much of an excuse to save her from this fault. "Forgive me sir……" she apologized, "We could not have known that the Pokemon Rangers moved the Eye of Arceus to another location. We were fighting off the guards, but with the combined strength of the trainers on board and the rangers… we were overpowered"

The hooded figure groaned irritatingly to himself as he covered his mouth with his hands. From another person's point of view, they could tell that he was not a person who would be denied of his needs. After a few moments of silence he spoke up again, "I sent you, the finest of all my soldiers on one of the most important missions… and you return… unsuccessful?"

"I……… yes……"

He then stood up from his position and looked out the window. Shani could tell that a lot of things were going through his mind at the moment, "This is most unfortunate. Without the eye, our progress might just be hampered"

"Sir, give me another chance!" Shani pleaded for a chance to redeem herself, "We know where the scientists have taken the eye, I can still take it from their headquarters and…"

But the knight commander stopped her sentence with a wave of his hand, "No…… the PRI headquarters is too well defended. They do not understand what great powers they are dealing with. (pause) But it does not matter. We only need one of the eyes anyway. As long as we have that, we can still stop the World from Ending"

"So it is true then" Shani inquired, "The time of the prophecies has finally come?"

"Yes Shani… the time is right indeed" the commander replied holding the other Eye of Arceus in his hands. "I have a new assignment for you. You are to go with a small contingency of our best knights and head off to the Orange Islands far to the south. There, I want you to recover the stone of fire, ice and lightning from each of the legendary islands and bring them back here. Be warned though. The islands are protected by powerful Pokemons"

"No Pokemon can outmatch a true Aura Guardian sire"

"Indeed……" he sighed, "But as always. May your journey be a smooth one"

Shani gave out a strict salute and slowly walked out of the room with her armored helmet on. From what the other knights could tell, she was going out to fight a real battle.

**(Sinnoh stadium)**

After finally getting registered in the Sinnoh league at last, Ash gave himself one good pat at the back for a job well done in making it here at the final destination. "Alright, we're all registered for the Sinnoh league Pikachu (Pika pika. Pikachu) It doesn't matter who comes in our way, we're gonna beat them all. Right? (Pika!)" but just as they were about to head off towards the Pokemon center, an ice cream stand suddenly caught their attention.

"Ice cream, get your ice cream here! Get them while they're still ice!"

"Hey, how about a scoop of ice cream before we join up with the others Pikachu? (Pika)" Ash then took his time on the ice cream stand. "What can I get for ya son?"

"Two chocolate scoop please" he answered, "One for both of us" when they finally got their treats, Ash slowly made his way towards the park bench so that he could have himself some nice relaxing time. What better way to spend the hot day than to sit back, relax and have a cone of ice cream. As he relaxed along with his Pikachu he noted that the place had become a little quieter for some reason. Some of the unofficial battles had already ended and the people at the main intersection were already gone. The afternoon was coming so everybody was probably looking for a place to eat.

"Man… I can't believe we're finally here already Pikachu" Ash said to his little Pikapal, "It feels like only yesterday I was just starting out my journey at Pallet town. Man… time sure does fly ahehehehehe. (Piii pika) Hey… that reminds me. Do you know what day it is next week Pikachu? (Pika?) What? Don't tell me you forgot. Next week will really be the day that we first met. (Pikachu) Yeah, maybe after the Sinnoh league we should have a double celebration!" and just when the two of them were about to go and meet up with the others, a large crowd of trainers suddenly began assembling at the sidewalk, like an accident had just happened. "Hey, what's happening over there?"

Being the curious boy as he always was, Ash decided to see what was going on, "Come on let's go check it out" but just as he got there, the crowd was already too thick for him to see through.

"Master Aaron! Master Aaron, look this way please!"

"Mr. Flint! Over here!"

"Lucian, we love you!"

"Ms. Bertha! Ms. Bertha! Is it true that all of you are going to watch the participants of the Sinnoh league this year?" there were several police officers surrounding the Elite Four members and a lot of cameras were flashing so it was impossible to see the trainers clearly.

Upon hearing these names being chanted around, Ash soon grew curious. He knew that to hear all those names in the same area was no mere coincidence. They had to be the Elite Four of the Sinnoh region. Wanting to get a closer look at the star attraction of the crowd, the boy quickly began plowing himself through the crowd in hopes to get at least a glimpse of the best trainers in the region. "Excuse me. Coming through. Pardon me" he squeezed, he squirmed and perhaps even crawled through the legs of the reporters just to get to the other side. But just as he finally gotten through the thickest part of it, when he finally got up, he tripped onto the bar and slid down towards the pavement on the floor. "Owww… I think I'm gonna feel that in the morning"

"Are you alright?" came Lucian's voice. When Ash looked up to him, the middle aged trainer immediately recognized his face, "Oh, is that you Ash?" When the boy got up his Pikachu leaped back to his shoulder, "Oh hello to you too Pikachu, long time no see"

"It's great to see you too Lucian" Ash greeted back smiling all the way. "Sorry about that (Pika chu)"

It wasn't long then until the rest of the Elite Four members joined in to see who Lucain was talking to, "Hey Lucian, what's up?" came Flint the fire Pokemon master. "Who's this guy?"

"Oh, everyone. Allow me to introduce to you a good trainer friend of mine" Lucian explained, "This is Ash, he's from Pallet town in Kanto"

"It's an honor to meet you all" Ash bowed his head slightly in respect.

"There's no need to bow boy" Bertha spoke up as she showed her hand in shake, "I heard about you, Ash Ketchum from Pallet town. Your name has been ringing around the Sinnoh region for some time now. I saw you battle in your first competition in the Indigo Plateau and I must say that I am quite impressed to see you standing before me"

"Oh, I'm not that great. Not as great as you guys" Ash rubbed his head embarrassed. "I mean, I'm not a Pokemon Master yet ahehehehe"

"Well from what I saw back in the Hoenn league, you outdid yourself many times Ash" Bertha added, "You shouldn't sell yourself short"

"So you're Ash huh?" Flint noted his name, "Hmm… you looked a lot taller on TV. I guess the camera does add a few extra pounds"

"Huh?"

"Oh don't listen to him" Aaron the bug Pokemon master interrupted, "He's just curious on why the champ is so interemmppphhh!" before the bug trainer could complete his sentence, Lucian covered up his mouth to stop him from saying anymore.

"Oh don't listen to Aaron, he's just messing with ya" the psychic master countered giving a small fake chuckle. "Anyway……… seeing that you're here, I guess you must be competing in the Sinnoh league, am I right?"

"Yeah, I already registered. But, what are you guys doing here then?"

"Oh nothing much" Flint replied, "We're just here to watch the league to see who's gonna take up the Elite Four Challenge. We do this every year and whenever a champ rises up we're always there to bounce them back. It's kind of like Poker. You gamble everything you've achieved and throw it down on the table. It's a double or nothing rule"

"Yeah, Lucian told me about it" Ash stated as he looked back at them, "The winner of the Sinnoh league is allowed to take part in the Elite Four Challenge. The last one who managed to win it was Cynthia right?"

"Yup, that's the gist of it" Aaron nodded, "And look who's coming up on the road now" as the group turned their attention back to the road, they noticed a familiar blonde haired figure wearing a stylish black coat walking towards them.

"Its champion Cynthia!" said one of the reporters. "Oh my!"

"Johny, aim the camera that way!" came Rhonda's voice the famed reporter of the TV show Sinnoh Now. "Jack, move the mic closer! (bang!) Owww! Watch it you nimrod! You hit me! You do that again and I'll make sure that they have you fired!"

"S… sorry boss" replied Jack the mic holder.

"Rhonda, we're still on!"

"Huh? Oh right… Hello and welcome back to Sinnoh Now… today we (loud chattering)…"

When Cynthia made it close to the group of Elites, she greeted them with her oh so pretty smile, "Hi there everyone. Looks like you all made it"

"Same goes to you too Cynthia" Lucian nodded, "I hope your trip back to your hometown wasn't too much trouble. How's your grandmother by the way?"

"She's fine. Now that the excavation team has finally moved out, she can finally get some peace and quiet. I just wished they'd move quicker so. My town isn't exactly used to all that attention" but then she quickly noted that there was another person behind the elites. "Oh, and who's that behind you?" when Ash's face became clear, her eyes widened slightly in surprise, "Ash?"

"Oh, have you two met before?" Lucian inquired curiously.

"We met back at a ruin near Floaroma town" the champ answered, "I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see you seeing that the Sinnoh league is starting. Have you registered for the tournament already?"

"Yup!" came the boy's instant answer, "I even have all of my eight badges registered"

"That's great" the blonde smiled back at him. But just as they were about to continue the conversation, Cynthia began to note the high tension between the police and the crowd. To actually see all the famous elites in one place was something worth dying for. But more importantly, some of the reporters were getting quite curious on who they were talking to. "I think we should go to somewhere more secluded. I don't think hanging around here will be good for us"

"Yes, I agree" Lucian nodded, "Come on Ash, we can continue our conversation at the lounge"

But Ash simply waved it off, "Sorry, but I have to meet my friends right now. They're probably worried about me right about now. Maybe some other time"

"Well I guess we can't force ya" Aaron smirked, "Why don't you come by my old gym at the end of town later? I'll show you some of my Pokemons and we can even have a battle if you want. From what I heard from Lucian, you're one heck of a trainer"

"I'll definitely be there!" Ash raised his fist in acceptance of his challenge, "I never turn down a good battle, especially when it comes from a member of the Elite Four. I'll see ya there!" and with that the boy dashed off from the group to find his friends, leaving behind five impressed trainers to watch his back blend and vanish among the crowd.

"Hmm… now he's an odd one" Flint grumbled to himself.

"Oh? Why's that?" Aaron said quizzled.

"He's the first person I've met that didn't ask for my autograph"

**(Pokemart)**

Brock, the breeder/ex-gym-leader of Pewter city was taking a stroll through the Pokemart that afternoon. As the expert that he already was, he gathered up just about enough provisions to last his party a couple of days on the road, just in case if he should decide to travel again. He prepared numerous Pokemon foods for his little pals and some medicines in case of injuries.

After recounting the things that he got from the shelves, the young breeder nodded and made sure everything was accounted for. He didn't want to go out into the wilds without being prepared for the worst.

"Hmm… this should about do it. With these supplies, I should be able to keep Ash's stomach full for a whole week at least. What do you think Croagunk?" the frog Pokemon in question simply turned his face at him and puffed its balloon cheeks with a snicker at the end. "Yeah, you're right. I guess this should be plenty. Come on" but just when he was about to head off towards the cash register, he suddenly noticed a toy rack full of dolls and stuffed animals. At first, he didn't really pay much interest to those small time toys, but then he thought that he should at least get something that wasn't related to his full time dream. "Hmm… maybe I should get a souvenir for my brothers and sisters back home. I bet they'll love a good stuffed toy" but just when he was about to pick one, he noticed that one particular set of dolls looked strangely familiar.

Sure there were stuffed toys of Pokemons, but when he saw a small figure with a black T-shirt he raised an eyebrow in question. "Hey, this one looks really neat" it was a medium size stuffed toy the size of his hand. It wore a Pokemon cap on its head and it also came with a Pikachu on the shoulder.

"Ah, an excellent choice sir" came the store clerk's voice. "Those sets of dolls are the latest things going on right now. All the kids are raving about this particular person and we just filled these shelves today"

"Well it does look kinda nice" Brock motioned to the doll. "It kinda looks familiar though" but then suddenly, he noticed a lot of kids buying dolls and toys that were similar to the one he was holding.

"Hey look! They got an action figure of 'him' too!" said one kid to another.

"No way, I got to get my mom to buy one!"

"Mommy, mommy, can I get one of those dolls please?"

"See what I mean?" the store clerk smiled.

"Yeah, I see" Brock nodded in agreement, "Well whoever he is, he must be really popular. But I really got to say… he does look a lot like………… Ash?"

**(Pokemon center lounge)**

Dawn, Zoey, Nando and Kenny were all in the Pokemon center that afternoon, eagerly awaiting the return of their two friends. The registration to the Grand Festival wasn't exactly that difficult and heck, they didn't even have to wait in line at all. All they needed was to file in their contest ribbons and their Pokedex and then ping, they were in.

"Haaa… I'm bored" Kenny groaned as he waited patiently on the bench for Ash and Brock to meet up with them. "After all that traveling, I feel like I want to do something fun for a change"

"Oh don't be so lazy Kenny" Dawn grumbled.

"But I understand his feelings" Nando added, "After all that we've been through, it's only natural that he would want to do something else rather than waiting"

"I guess so…" Dawn admitted, "I do feel like doing some training. I still don't know which of my combination to use during the appeal round"

"Well why don't you show your best one?" Zoey came fourth with a can of soda in hand, "Since this is the finals already, there's no reason to hold anything back anymore. Everyone you meet on the field will definitely be an excellent coordinator and trainer, so be sure that when you go out there, you always give it your best" she repeated what Ash had told her back in the train.

"An excellent advice" Nando agreed, "We all worked hard for this very moment and now is the time to release our shackles and show the world your true potential!"

"Yeah, and I bet your mom would want to see you doing your best as well" Kenny added grinning.

Seeing that all of them had the same idea, Dawn could nothing but agree, "I guess you're right. Worrying about it now won't do much good. Oh yeah, I have to call mom and tell her that I'm ok. She must've heard the news on ho the train got attacked last night. I bet she's probably worried about me right now" but just when the girl was about to head off to one of the payphones to call her mom and let her know about her status, several kids about six to seven years old rushed passed her skirt like they were in a hurry to get their midnight snack. "Hey, watch it!"

"Sorry" one of the kids apologized before returning to his group. Apparently the children seemed to be drawn onto the large TV monitor near the reception desk. There was a review battle of one of the events here in the Sinnoh region and just seeing how the kids were attracted to it, peeked the curiosity of our heroes.

"Hey look! He's on he's on!"

"Is that him? Where is he?"

"Over there by the red corner. He's the one with the Pikachu"

But the kids were not the only one who were drawn to the TV screen. As the battle review came in, several other trainers and adults joined in the viewing to see the battle that happened a few months ago.

"Hey, what's going on over there?" Zoey noted the increasing amount of viewers gathering around the TV. "I heard of TV attraction, but this is just ridiculous"

"It appears that one of the old Pokemon battle reviews are on" Nando noted seeing that he was the tallest in the group he was able to see what the others could not. "I wonder whose battle they are watching"

"Why don't we take a look" Kenny smirked as he approach the crowd, "Sorry, coming through. Pardon me"

"Whoa, what a thick crowd" Dawn groaned as she pressed herself deeper inward. "Whoever they're watching, he must be one heck of a trainer" when the four of them finally pulled in through the crowd, the tallest ones bent their knees a little so that the others at the back can enjoy the luxury of viewing.

Once everyone was comfortable in their own positions, the TV reporter began his announcement. "Welcome back ladies and gentlemen to your weekly, Battle Review! Take it away Lisa"

"Thank you Johny" the anchorwoman nodded happily, "Right now we have the latest battle ops from about four months ago near Hearthome city, where a double battle match ensued with the Sooth Bell as first prize. Many trainers from around the region have participated in it and it turned out to be quite a success. After many battles a single pair rose up victorious. Ash Ketchum, a senior Pokemon trainer from Pallet town and Paul (static) a local trainer here in Sinnoh from Veilstone city. They both battled marvelously which earned them top ranks in the competition"

"I've been hearing this Ash name for awhile now" the anchorman notified, "Is he anyone special Lisa?"

"Why yes actually. Ash Ketchum hails from a small town in Kanto and has been earning himself quite a reputation as a powerful trainer. He has competed in almost every league known in country and has won the hearts of many trainers out there. Though he may not have won many competitions his name appears time and time again in every list we have here in our archives. However, from what we can tell he usually can be found with a Pikachu on his shoulder"

"So what record does he hold?"

"Well as of now he is currently holding the top 16th in both Johto and Hoenn league and the top 32 in the Indigo League in Kanto. And from reports we have here, he seems to be on his way to compete for the Sinnoh league as well. We're expecting great things from him"

"Thank you Lisa for that report on Ash Ketchum. Now we go back live to the………"

"I… don't believe it" Dawn muttered as the crowd began to disburse. "Ash is really…… famous?"

"Well I guess the world hold a lot of surprises" Kenny added also equally shocked, "Who woulda thought that we'd actually be traveling with a celebrity?"

"Hey guys listen to this" Zoey called to them waving a magazine that she got from the counter. "Check this out" as the gang looked closer onto the magazine, they realized that it was Ash's face on the cover of the page. He was doing a cool pose in one of his competitions along with his Pikachu raising his fist into the air and giving out that confident smirk. The pose really did show the boy's true self. Even though he was ignorant, he still had that aura that said that he could not be beaten.

"Hey, that's Ash!" Dawn was the first to yell. "How come he's on the cover of the Sinnoh magazine!?"

"That's not all. Listen to this" Zoey quickly then turned to the rumor page at the middle of the book. "Ace trainer Ash Ketchum is currently one of the most popular trainers in all of Sinnoh. Unlike most trainers, he also participates in Pokemon contests which he does acceptionally well. It is rumored that he has also defeated the Frontier Brain, an elite group of trainers who have said to possess incredible skills. It has also been confirmed that Ash Ketchum has also won the Orange League trophy as a sign of his first victory"

"Hey Dawn, are any of these rumors true?" Kenny turned to his childhood friend.

"Huh? How should I know?"

"Well you have been traveling with him longer than any of us (except for Brock) You must know a few things about him"

Dawn immediately began to wonder then. It was true that they have been traveling for quite a long time now, but she never really paid much attention to it then. She soon began to realize that she knows very little about Ash. She knows that he hailed from Pallet town Kanto, that much was a given, but other than that…… everything was blank. It was like all the time she spent with him was for nothing. Heck… the boy in question probably knows more about her than the other way around.

"Hmm… well now that you mentioned it. I don't really know much about Ash"

A few seconds later, Brock entered the Pokemon center panting like a dog that had just ran through a marathon. "Hey guys! You won't believe what I've found out!"

"Ash is a famous trainer that we haven't noticed?" Kenny replied.

"Yeah, I even found a stuffed toy of him back at the Pokemart" Brock then showed them a medium sized stuffed toy with a Pikachu on its shoulder. "It looks just like him!"


	5. The Calm Before The Storm

Chapter 5: A Calm Before The Storm

**Chapter 5: A Calm Before The Storm**

"WHATTTT!!" that was the sound of Ash yelling in the room he was staying at the Pokemon center. After he had discovered that he was a famous trainer with tons of props and action figures to boot he couldn't believe his own eyes. His face was on the picture of nearly every magazine there were in the rack, posters of him were plasted on every corner of the city and his sense of fashion was mimicked by both boys and girls alike. Heck some were even wearing the clothes he used to wear back when he was smaller. "I'm… famous!? (Pika?!)"

"Well that's the gist of it" Brock nodded along with the rest of the gang, "As of two months ago, you've been attracting a lot of attention from both trainers and coordinators from around the region"

"It even says here that you're more famous than Lucian!" Kenny added pointing out the page of the magazine. "You even have fan clubs and admirers too"

"And listen to this" Zoey notified them, "Ahem… this is what gym leader Maylene describes Ash during his gym battle with her in Veilstone city. 'He's strong, confident, loves his Pokemons and treats them like they're his friends and always a person who would never let anything get in his way. He's a boy who has potential' Wow Ash, looks like you got some high recommendations from a lot of famous people out there"

"It's nice of Maylene to compliment Ash like that" Dawn smiled cheerfully, "I haven't seen her since we were on our way to Sunnyshore city. Remember Ash? All that walking and running really had my legs sore"

"I guess you need to exercise more" Kenny humored which earned him a pillow on the face. "Hey it was just a joke"

"Well anyway, I guess you deserve it Ash" Brock nodded again, "After everything you've been through its no surprise that you've been slowly gaining some popularity out there"

"Gee, you think so Brock? I haven't noticed it" Ash said with such humility. "I thought I'd get a couple of fans like the other trainers before, but this is just too much"

"Well like they say: Never say no to fame" Nando added strumming his harp. "But in any case. Why don't we all go somewhere to eat? If I remember, we haven't had any breakfast this morning" the mere mention of food quickly brought Ash's stomach attention as it reminded him of how hungry he was. The sound was so loud that it echoed through the halls of the Pokemon center.

"Ahehe… yeah… I am kinda hungry" he admitted to which the others only face faulted on the floor.

"Well why don't we see what's in the Pokemon center cafeteria?" Brock recommended, "I heard that have a beautiful cook there who likes to breed Pokemons just like me"

"Well if she cooks just as good as you Brock then I can't wait! (Pika pika!) Come on guys, let's get something to eat before we start training"

"Sounds like a plan" Dawn agreed. And just as the entire gang was leaving the room, Dawn suddenly remembered something. "Oh wait a minute. You guys go on ahead. I need to get something from my bag" the others agreed and quickly made their way to the cafeteria where food was being prepared. "Now where is it?" the young coordinator muttered as she rummaged through her knapsack, "I remember that I put it here somewhere… aha! Found ya" she pulled out her Poketch from her bag and gently fastened it onto her wrist. "Can't leave home without one of these teehee" buy just when she was about to join the others, the strange ghostlike voice once again crept through her ear like a whisper.

"_The end is near…"_

"Huh?" Dawn almost literally jerked her head when she heard the voice. "Hello? Is someone there?" but all she got in return was silence. "Hmm… I guess I must be hearing things" thinking that it was just the wind, the girl quickly shut the windows and head right back out to join her friends for lunch. Little did she know that she had to heed the words of the ghosts.

**(P.R.I Sinnoh Headquarters)**

The Pokemon Research Institute headquarters: a place where many great minds of the country gathers to discuss… well… practically almost everything that has to deal with Pokemons. The latest technology known to mankind was invented within this society of eggheads. The PRI was first founded about almost a hundred years ago by a group of scientists who were curious about the existence of Pokemons. But seeing on how big the world was, the leaders decided to split the society into smaller branches. The Sinnoh headquarters was one such branch and it has continued to serve as a symbol of knowledge and a defier of ignorance.

The headquarter building was fifty stories tall and about as thick as five city blocks. The security force there was tighter than any bank in world and even if you should be able to sneak in this compound. Sneaking back out undetected was another matter entirely. All the latest scanning devices, automatic cameras and robotic defense force patrol the halls of this compound and getting pass them was near impossible.

But let's leave the details of technology for another time, because right now, professor Hasting and his rangers were entering the facility. They were also being escorted by officer Jenny and three other police officers.

"Professor Hasting" came the guard's voice, "Welcome back sir. Professor Takamura called a few minutes ago. He said that he should be able to get here by next week. He was wondering if the artifact reached you safely"

"Thank you. I'll make sure to call him back as soon as I can" professor Hasting replied nodding back. He then turned his attention to officer Jenny, "Thank you officer Jenny for your escort, but I believe we'll be safe from here on end. You can return to your regular duties now"

The girl saluted back to him and left the building along with her men without a word.

But while the four of them were still being scanned, Lunick and Solana became at awe to what they were seeing. The entire building was like a complex maze full of twists and turns to confuse intruders. Heck even they were having trouble trying to memorize all the elevator positions, stairs and escalators. It's like the entire building itself relied a lot on energy.

"Come on you three" Spenser called to them, "You don't wanna get left behind now"

"Yes sir!" the two rangers said in unison.

As the four of them continued to go through the halls of the building, Spenser became a little curious. "Excuse me, professor Hasting?"

"Hmm yes?"

"Do you mind if I asked sir……… but what is the Eye of Arceus?" he asked slightly hinting that he wasn't really ready for the answer.

Hasting paused for awhile and smirked before replying, "It is what it is called"

"What? That can't possibly be the eye of the legendary Pokemon Arceus now… can it?"

"Arceus is a Pokemon?" Lunick questioned to Solana who only shrugged in confusion. "I've never heard that Pokemon before… at least not in any Pokedex that I've seen"

Solana was also equally curious and decided to look it up in her wristband watch. "Hmm… Arceus… Arceus… I don't think I've heard that name either. (beep beep beep) Nope… it's not on my Pokedex either"

"I wouldn't be surprised since no one has seen an Arceus for more than a million years" professor Hasting clarified as they entered an elevator shaft, "The only thing we have about Arceus are stories, rumors, epitaphs, riddles and myths. It's not surprising for kids like you not to know it. But from what we have gathered so far… it is said that this one individual Pokemon was the creator of all life itself. So far we've been only able to get one picture of it"

"A picture?" Spenser raised a brow of amazement.

"More of a statue really" the professor corrected, "But after looking at several epitaphs, we were able to finally crack the code from one of the old Goronian tablets"

"Goronians?" Solana questioned.

"An ancient civilization about a millions years ago" Spenser answered, "About fifty years ago a small group of scientists found an underground city near Goldenrod city in the Johto regions when they were studying a fossil of an old Pokemon. This lead to the discovery of an ancient race we called the Goronians or Goros for short"

"And with that one accidental discovery, we discovered remnants of that civilization scattered throughout the world" when the elevator finally stopped, Hasting was the first to disembark. "Even till today that culture remains a mystery to us. They were primitive that much was true but their history and knowledge answered many questions about Pokemons and their cycle of evolution. Their knowledge was so advance that it made our brains of today look like rubber duckies in a bathtub"

"So if they were so smart… how come they're gone?"

A great long pause echoed in the hall when Lunick asked that question. Professor Hasting looked to the walls for a moment and smiled, "That my boy…… is a mystery. But we have theories about their extinction. But before I explain, we should focus on putting this little thing where it will be much safer hmm?" he gestured to the object in his hand.

The Eye of Arceus…

**(Pokemon center training area)**

"Alright Pikachu, are you ready? (Pika!)" that was the sound of Ash and his little friend Pikachu training at the backspace of the Pokemon center training ground. After they had a semi-fast lunch, the boy simply jolted away from his seat and onto the training area where he could prepare for the Sinnoh league. "You ready Kenny?"

"Always have been" the boy on the other side replied holding a Pokeball in hand. "Alakazam, I choose you!!" the famous psychic Pokemon Alakazam appeared carrying two maracas like objects in its hands. "Get ready Ash, I've become a lot stronger since we last met. You won't see me coming"

"Hey, don't count your Torchics until they hatch Kenny, because me and my Pokemons have grown plenty strong ourselves"

As both trainers were ready, Brock took the liberty of being the referee of this match. "The match between trainer Ash Ketchum from Pallet town and Kenny from Twinleaf town is about to begin. The match will be a one on one battle. The last trainer with a Pokemon standing will be the winner. Trainers are you ready!?"

"Ready!"

"Then let's begin!" and with a wave of the boy's hand, both trainers quickly unleashed their attacks among one another.

"Pikachu, use quick attack go!"

"Alakazam, use hidden power!" the two Pokemon immediately collided each other's strength onto the attack but their powers seemed equally matched.

"It looks like Ash's Pikachu has become a lot stronger" Nando noted as he observed the battle from afar. "He's a lot faster than before and I think after all that hard work has finally paid off"

"Yeah and all those combinations he's doing really gives him more edge around the block" Zoey nodded in agreement while taking a bite off her sandwich. Thanks to Ash's haste, she was forced to bring her meal outside along with the rest of the gang who haven't finished eating. Even though Ash can be hungry all the time, he can get full real quick. Sometimes it even made the rest of the gang wonder if he was even tasting any of the things he ate. "I wonder what other sorts of combination he has up his sleeves"

"Well figuring Ash, he'll probably make it up as he goes" Dawn commented while holding on to Brock's Happiny. "He usually tends to do that during every battle"

"Pikachu, now use iron tail!"

"Alakazam, teleport away now!" right before Pikachu could lay a hit, Alakazam vanished right in a blink of an eye.

"Oh no! Where'd it go?"

"Hehehe…" Kenny grinned knowing that Ash was completely open to attack, "Alright Alakazam, use shadow ball!" in an instant, Alakazam appeared right above Pikachu firing a ball of dark energy right at the little guy.

But Ash wasn't one to take a hit without collateral, "Oh no you don't, Pikachu, iron tail and send it back to him!" and with a brilliant tactical thinking, Pikachu slammed its tail onto the ball and sent it right back to Alakazam causing an explosion in mid air. "Yes!"

"Oh no Alakazam!" the psychic Pokemon was down, but it was still in good fighting condition. "Alright then no more mister nice guy! Alakazam, use shadow ball, two in a row!"

Even though some trainers might see this as a new add to their tactics, Ash had seen a lot more complicated maneuver than this so he knew what to do next. "That trick is too easy. Pikachu, use volt tackle go!" immediately the little mouse charged up a powerful surge of electricity upon itself and bounced the two shadow balls away just like tapping a baseball with a bat. Not only that, but the explosion of those two balls made Pikachu look like some sort of superhero in an action movie. If this was a contest battle, he would've earned plenty of points already.

"What the?!" unsurprisingly, Kenny and the rest of the gang were at awe. To see such powerful attacks tapped away so easily was almost like looking at a miracle show.

"Now Pikachu, show him what you've got! Volt tackle!" and with one powerful hit, Alakazam was thrown back so far that it would take it hours to do battle again.

"Oh no, Alakazam!"

"Alakazam is no longer able to battle, Pikachu is the winner!" Brock declared raising his hand to Ash's side.

"Alright Pikachu! You did it buddy! (Pikachu)" Ash cheered in victory for his little Pikapal. "Awesome work Pikachu, you're becoming stronger everyday ahehehehehe"

After the dusk of battle had finally settled, Kenny returned Alakazam to its Pokeball and returned to the battlefield. "Great battle Ash. That was one heck of a fight. I wasn't even able to hit Pikachu even once. You weren't kidding when you said that you've grown stronger"

"You did well too Kenny" Ash replied handing over a handshake, "You really had me going with that teleport move. I had a hard time just getting to your Alakazam"

"Yeah, but I still need to work on my flaws. If you can counterattack me that easily with just iron tail, then I still got a long way to go"

"This is indeed an excellent lesson" Nando prescribed, "To always know that there will always be someone stronger. That lesson, I learned the hard way"

"Well I guess this wraps up my training for the day with Pikachu" Ash said wearily, "I'll train the rest of my team later tomorrow after we refresh up. How about you Dawn? Are you gonna train some new combinations today?"

But surprisingly the girl waved it off, "No I think I'll start tomorrow. All this excitement and eating really got my body tired"

"Then why don't we head off to the hot spring at the end of town?" Brock recommended to which they all cast a gaze of confusion. Seeing that they didn't understand, the breeder pulled out his handy dandy Sinnoh guide to explain. "From what I've read in the guide, there's a natural underground hot spring about two blocks from here. It's a great place to cool down after a hot summer day…… and besides……" he giggled uncontrollably.

"Besides what Brock?" Dawn said a little puzzled.

And then suddenly the breeder boy showed them a picture of a beautiful young lady in the guidebook, "That place is being run by a single lady named Janis! Just look at her, she's beautiful!"

"Erghhh… and to think that I actually took him seriously"

"Well I don't mind" Ash cheered up balling a fist, "A little relaxation after lunch will be great for the body. We can all start training seriously tomorrow"

"Well, if you're in then I guess I got no choice" Dawn submitted.

"Mind if I tag along?" Zoey waved in, "I haven't had a hot spring bath for awhile now so I think going in might be of some good"

"I would like to go to if you don't mind" Nando joined in as well, "I have never tried a hot spring before but I heard that it was quite relaxing"

"Hey we don't mind, the more the merrier" Ash laughed. "Alright Brock, lead the way"

**(Hot Spring Resort)**

When the gang finally arrived at the hot spring, they were awestruck by the size of the building. There were about two stories up and a large lounge at the entrance. There were three springs for both men and women too and even more surprising was that the place was strangely empty.

"Well here we are!" Brock proudly announced to his comrades. "The Half Way Home Hot spring resort!"

The others remained silent to the boy's words. They had to admit that the place was huge but there was just one thing wrong. The place was a total wreck! The stone way entrance was in a state of total disaster, the windows were no where near as in good condition, the roof was full of holes and this place looked as if it was only being held together by a bunch of spitballs and worn out chewing gums. In other words, this place was a mess.

"Uh… are you sure you got the place right Brock?" Ash questioned as he took another closer look at the picture on the guide, "This doesn't look anywhere close to the picture on the guidebook"

"Maybe they're just redecorating" Dawn humored slightly. "Come on, let's check out if there's anyone there" as the gang slowly entered the inn they could see that the inside was a little better than the outside. The floors were still intact and were swept clean recently as well. The ceiling was fine except for a few minor rust and bad repair hands. "Hello is there anyone here?"

"Man, this place is a total wreck" Kenny scanned the area from head to toe trying to find out if there were any bad spots in the lounge. "I wonder who's the manager around here?"

"Hello? (Pika?)" Ash yelled out slightly, "Hmm, maybe no one's in here. Let's go check it out" as they continued to make their way through the ancient halls of the inn, the worst the place began to look. At first it wasn't really that bad. A minor crack here and there and a few creaky floors… but when they got to the deeper areas, they began to see tiny Ariados's web, large holes in the walls, Raticate eating crumbs out of the floor, and the wind whistling through the many doors of the resort.

After about five minutes of non-stop walking Dawn began to feel a slightly human chill run down her spine. "Erhh… maybe it wasn't such a good idea to come here"

"Oh don't be silly Dawn" Ash reassured her, "The owner probably just left the place for a little while. Maybe we should wait for them at the reception desk" but then suddenly a door began to creep in a ghost like haunted house, scaring Dawn out of her skirt.

"Ahhh!" in the midst of her panic, the girl unconsciously grabbed onto Ash's arm and held it like it was her security blanket. "W w w w w w… what was that!?"

"It's only the door" Ash explained, "There's nothing to be scared about. Come on let's go" but just as they were entering the center plaza of the resort, the gang suddenly noticed a strange sound coming from the garden. "Hey… what's the sound?" Ash was the first to notice the strange humming sound. It felt sort of a like a song being tuned up and down gracefully like a beautiful melody being played on the piano.

"It sounds like its coming from there" Brock pointed to the garden. As the gang entered the place, a Milotic suddenly came into view. "Hey… look, it's a Pokemon"

"But not just any Pokemon" Ash notified them, "That's a Milotic"

"But what's a graceful Pokemon like Milotic doing in a crummy old place like this?" Kenny noted.

But soon later, their presence was felt by Milotic and once the water Pokemon saw them, it mistakenly took them as intruders and began making a horrible screech sound. "Mweeeeeeeeeeeee!!"

"Ahh!!" the gang yelled as they covered their ears to the voice of the Pokemon. The sound was so unbearable that it almost resembled that of a nail rubbing against a blackboard.

"That' must be Milotic's screech attack!" Brock warned them, "It must think that we're intruders or something!"

"So what do we do?!"

After about a whole minute of screeching, another voice came into the scene. "Milotic, stop it right now!" immediately the water Pokemon noted its master's voice and turned to the other side of the garden. The gang appreciated that the screeching stopped but wondered who their mysterious savior was. "Are you alright Milotic? (Mwee…)" the master of the Pokemon looked like a young lady probably a bit older than Brock. She had blonde hair tied to a ponytail, grey eyes and a slender body to boot. However, she was wearing a flu mask on her face and an apron around her waist so no one could tell how she actually looked like.

"Thank goodness for that" Ash stopped pressing his ears finally. "I almost thought that my ears would start bleeding ehh…"

When the woman noticed the gang's presence she immediately got into a semi-defensive stance, "Who are you people? What are you doing in this place?" she couldn't really see them very well due to the turban she was wearing on her head.

"Oh we're sorry ma'am" Ash apologized, "We came here because we heard about a hot spring from the guidebook and we were wondering if we could use it"

"The hot spring?" the blonde woman raised a brow of suspicion at them before remembering the place she was working in. "Oh yes. I'm sorry, that must mean you're customers am I right?" they all nodded their heads in reply, "Oh boy. My grandpa was supposed to looking out on the reception desk today. I guess he must be sleeping again in his room. Gosh… you can't trust your own grandparents to look after their own resort (sigh)"

But just before she could continue, Brock suddenly appeared going onto his courting mode. "Oh my dear lady. You must be fair Janis, the fairest of them all! Your beauty is hindered behind that mask and apron, please allow me to help you clean the place up!"

"Umm I think you're mistaken" the girl replied, "The only Janis I know is…"

"Oh, did I hear my name being called?" came another old voice from behind. As Brock turned around he suddenly saw an old lady with a small smile on her face. "Hello there youngsters… I'm Janis, the proprietor of this resort. I heard that you came to use our hot spring for a change"

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"Uh… you're Janis?" Ash said finally to which the old lady nodded, "But that's odd. You don't look anything like the picture here"

The old lady named Janis laughed hearty in response as she saw herself in the guidebook. "Ahahahahahahaha (cough cough) Why you silly boy, that was a picture of me they took back when I first opened this hot spring resort fifty years ago! I was about twenty three that time and my oh my, how time flew by ahehehehehehe"

"Y… y… you're kidding… right?" Brock was probably the one who was most effected by this news. To actually see the 1024th love of his life wrinkled and old was almost like looking at Medusa straight in the eye. He turned into a comical stone and broke apart into a million pieces.

"That no good husband of mine is probably sleeping again in his room" Janis sighed, "Oh well I guess age catches up to you when you're this old. By the way, what's your name kid?

"Huh? Oh my name is Ash, Ash Ketchum from Pallet town. The one over there is Brock"

"_Ash?"_ the blonde woman noted the name as she still couldn't see clearly through her turban around her head.

"And I'm Dawn"

"I'm Zoey, nice to meet ya"

"I'm Kenny"

"And my name is Nando"

"Oh, Ash Ketchum?" Janis said quizzled, "I've heard that name being chanted around the city for quite awhile now. You must be quite popular to win the hearts of so many people"

Ash simply rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "Oh I'm not that famous. Ahehehehehee"

"Well its nice to meet some polite kids nowadays" the old lady laughed, "I've been running this hot spring business for fifty years now and I'm still in good shape. You're the first customers we had in months" she then noticed that Dawn was still unconsciously holding onto Ash's arm. "Oh and I must say that I've never seen two pairs this close before"

When Dawn and Ash finally realized that their arms were still intertwined they immediately jolted away from one another. "Ahh! Nonononononono, you're mistaken!" Dawn scrambled and panicked for an excuse, "You see I was scared and all so I uh um uh…" her face was so red that it would even make a tomato look like it was shaded pink.

"Oh don't be shy now. Let an old lady have her fun ahehehehehehe. Please come on in and I'll show you to the hot springs"

"Ok…" and with that they immediately followed the old woman to the back of the resort. Brock on the other hand was being dragged by Croagunk as he was still in a state of shock.

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When the gang made it to the hot spring area they quickly realized that there were two sections, one for the boys and one for the girls, obviously. The two sides shared the same pool but in between them was a thick wooden wall with small dark holes that allowed steam to circulate through. "Well here we are" Janis announced, "The boys are on that side and the girls go on that side. I'll have my granddaughter come in and bring you all towels later"

"Thanks Janis" Ash appreciated before heading off to his side of the hot spring along with the other guys.

As the boy released all of his Pokemons to join in the fun, Pikchu quickly came down from the boy's shoulder so that he could swim in the warm spring as well. "Alright Pikachu, you take the others and go in first, I'll be with ya shortly. (Pikapika)" and just when he was about to remove his pants, Ash suddenly noticed a Poketch on the place where he put down his shirt. "Huh? Wait a minute… this must be Dawn's. But why is this here?" he then remembered that she was holding really tightly onto his shirt when the door creaked and then it must've came off onto his shirt. "Oh well… I guess I'd better return it before she thinks she lost it"

"Hey Ash, we're going on ahead alright" Brock notified him as he was already in his swimming trunks.

"Alright you three go on ahead. I need to return something" the boy replied before heading to the girl's changing room. Though he may be a boy, he knew that he shouldn't enter the room without knocking onto the door. "Hey Dawn, are you in there? I found your Poketch in my T-shirt"

"Ash?" came Zoey's voice coming from the other side of the door. "Dawn already went into the spring. What is it?"

"I found her Poketch on my T-shirt. Can you give it to her for me?"

"Oh ok, wait a moment" Ash could hear the sound of clothes being ruffled around the room for about two minutes before Zoey managed to answer the door. "Sorry to make you wai………" but then the girl stopped mid sentence when she saw Ash's whole body.

The boy was half naked that time with only his pants on to give him that cool guy look. But not only that, when Zoey took a slight glimpse of his body, she noticed that the small boy had muscles the size of meat buns on him. His abs were about two or three layers tops and his neck bone was so strong that it looked like he could actually crack open a walnut in between. Zoey couldn't tell how long she was starring at him like that, but she had to admit that she has never seen anything like that since Prometheus, the great.

"Uh… Zoey?" immediately the girl was snapped right back to reality when Ash called her name. He was dangling the Poketch in front of her face and giving out a strange look in return. "Can you give this to Dawn? I think she might get worried that she lost it"

The red head immediately flushed madly, "Uh yeah, of course" and with great haste, the girl snatched the Poketch from him and closed the door in the blink of an eye. Sadly Ash wasn't able to catch a glimpse of the feint blush coming from her cheeks.

"What's with her?" Ash said a little confused. But instead of pondering about it he decided to leave it off and join his friend for a relaxing hot bath. "Hey guys, I'm coming in" but just when he entered the hot spring another Pokemon with a mean look on its face was standing in front of him. "WAHHH!! It's it's it's a it's a… Garchomp!!" he could also see Brock and Kenny on the other side of the hot spring equally freaked out of the Dragon Pokemon standing before them.

(Garchomp!!) the beast roared annoyingly as if it was disturbed from its beauty sleep. A few seconds later the woman who the gang met earlier came by with a Pokeball in hand. "Oh no! Garchomp, return!" in an instant, the dragon Pokemon was gone. "I'm really sorry about that" the blonde helper apologized still wearing her turban and flu mask. "My Garchomp really likes to go into the hot spring sometimes and since we don't get a lot of customers, it must've taken you guys as intruders ahehehehe"

"Oh… t… that's ok" Ash waved it off a little shaken, "But are those Pokemons all yours miss? (Huh?) That Milotic and Garchomp are both yours right? That means you must be a trainer. Hey, you mind if we have a battle later?"

But the girl quickly raised her hand in deny, "Oh sorry I can't ahehehehehe. Today I'm uh… really, really busy. I still got a lot of places to clean up ahehehehehe"

"Oh that's a shame" Ash pondered. He really wanted to test his own strength against two strong looking Pokemons like Garchomp and Milotic for a change. Who knows, it might just be his little warm up before the Sinnoh league. But then suddenly a thought came up to his head, "I know, why don't you let me help you out in cleaning the inn? (Huh?) Once you're finished with the inn you can help me warm up for the Sinnoh league"

"Well uhh…" the girl was about to decline again but it looks like Janis beat her to the word.

"Why that's a splendid idea Ash" the old lady spoke through the entrance of the changing room. "My granddaughter is quite the trainer herself. I would really like to see a match between you two"

"Grandmother!"

"Oh come on now sweetie. Since when was the last time I ever saw you battle seriously?" Janis grinned, "Besides, that boy could actually be a perfect match for you ahehehehe" Ash didn't really get her point since he had very little experience in love, but it looks like her the girl beside him got the phrase clearly. In turn she blushed back a little embarrassed of the whole idea.

"Grandmother, would you stop it! You're embarrassing me!" but Janis simply let out a hearty laugh at the end leaving behind the teens and the Pokemons to ponder on their thoughts. "(sigh) Sorry about that. My grandmother can really say the strangest things nowadays. I'll come back later along with your towels, so……… enjoy!"

"Thanks, we will" and with nothing left to hinder their progress, Ash and his friends dove into the hot spring along with their Pokemons and began relaxing like a bunch of couch potatoes. "Ahh… now this is the life. I haven't been this relaxed since we came to that hot spring of Dawn's friend near Mt. Coronet"

"After such an exhausting trip, I guess we all earned a little relaxation huh" Brock added taking his time on the surface of the water.

"You said it Brocko (Pika chu)"

"Hey Ash" Kenny called out, "What Pokemon are you gonna use for your first battle?"

The boy in question thought for a moment in silence before replying, "Well I don't really know until I get to know my opponent first. But it doesn't matter really. Because I know I'm gonna win it no matter how bad the odds are"

"Overconfidence is a double edged sword" Nando hummed, "On one side it can help you win a fight but on the other hand it can make you underestimate your opponent. Be careful Ash, its times like these that brings out the best in every trainer. Everyone you meet on the field all the same objective as you do. To win this tournament"

"I agree" Brock nodded, "You're gonna be facing with the toughest opponents in the entire region and don't forget… Paul's in this one too"

The mere mention of that boy's name immediately dropped Ash on his feet. He knew that Paul was strong, perhaps even stronger than him… and that was enough to make him cautious.

Seeing Ash closed his mouth and act serious made Kenny and Nando wonder who Paul was, but instead they just decided to keep it down.

"Yeah…" Ash said finally in reply, "Out of all the trainers I've battled so far, I think Paul would be the strongest one yet" but groveling and grumbling about this now won't make him win the tournament. "Grr… just thinking about him now makes me wanna train again! Arghh!"

"Hey, take it easy" Brock cooled him down, "We still have a few days before the tournament begins. We should take this time to enjoy ourselves and relax. I bet the girls over on the other side are relaxing right now"

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But sadly, the two girls who were on the other side of the hot spring were not relaxed. In fact, they were quite in the opposite mood. They were excited and extremely agitated for some reason. Dawn was bubbling her face below water level to hide her blush after Janis made it look like she and Ash were going out. Zoey on the other hand was hiding her red blushing face away after seeing Ash's full masculine body. No matter how many times she told herself that he was just a kid like her, his body really differed from his age.

The only people she ever saw with those kinds of abs were professional athletes and soldiers on a parade. Though it was just a short glance she could actually remember the features Ash's muscles had. She wondered how it would feel if she touched it just once. Would it be as hard as stone or just plain soft…

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"Gahh!" once the red head coordinator realized what she was thinking she immediately began shaking her head to break away the thought. To think that such perverted and unmannered ideas would actually come to her head like that. She still hasn't returned the Poketch either since her mind was so preoccupied at the moment.

But while the two girls were just sitting there being idle, Piplup and the rest of Dawn's Pokemons couldn't help but wonder why their master was in such a state. Ambipom was especially curious as well. She didn't act this way since she was on her losing streak back during the middle of their adventures.

Just as the Pokemons were about to relax, the door to the changing room suddenly opened which caught their attention. Surprisingly, a Roserade and a pink Gastrodon appeared both carrying a tray of hot tea with them.

"Uh hey, is that a… Roserade?" Zoey muttered as the two Pokemons approached her.

"And a Gastrodon" Dawn added. When Roserade came to her, it immediately put down the tea tray nearby and handed her a cup. "Is that for us? (Rose… roserade)" the flower Pokemon nodded seriously. It didn't seem to be like any of the other Roserade Dawn had seen in her adventures. Usually Roserades would be sometimes shy and timid but this one was serious and looks as if it doesn't take jokes very often. "Why… thank you"

When all the cups were taken the two Pokemons bowed their heads and left the room without another word. "Well that was odd" Zoey noted as she took a sip off her tea, "But I have to say that this tea is great"

"Yeah" as the two of them finally began talking with one another, all the stress and embarrassment they felt a few minutes ago seemed to have melted away with the water. "I guess all the hot spring resorts have their own unique services" and with that they began laughing again which eased the tension of their Pokemons.

"So Dawn, are you nervous about the Grand Festival?"

"Not at all" the girl smiled back, "After what I've been through I think this will be a breeze. I have plenty of combinations to spare and all my Pokemons are in tip top shape. You better watch out Zoey because I'll be right on your tail"

"Hey I'll be waiting" the red head agreed to the challenge, "If we both meet on the contest field, remember: There's no reason for us to hold anything back. We both worked too hard to let this go to waste"

"No need to worry. Besides, I wouldn't want to be a disappointment like last time. I had a bad run with the losing streak a few months ago"

"Yeah I remember that. You were too nervous and sometimes too confident. But don't feel bad. As long as you give it your all you'll be a winner no matter what happens" Dawn gave out a glum face before turning it into a chuckle. "W… what? What's so funny?"

"You know… just a second ago you almost sounded like Ash. He always says that" she replied through laughs.

"Say what?"

"Give it your all. That's what he always says to me before I go to my next round. I don't really know what he truly means by that but it always helps"

"Hehehe… yeah… I think it does help" Zoey agreed since it was he who said that to her back at the train. And while the two of them agreed among each other, they couldn't help but break a laugh together like sisters.

But just as they were laughing, a voice suddenly came from the other side of the hot spring. "Hey Dawn, Zoey!" it was Ash's voice.

The moment his voice echoed to their room, the two girls suddenly got back to their shy mode and dove back into the water with their faces burning up. "Ahhh!" they yelped in unison. "Y… yeah Ash?" Dawn replied a little shyly.

"You guys wanna get something to eat after this? I'm pretty hungry"

"But didn't we just have lunch earlier?" Kenny's voice came in from the other side of the thick wall.

"But I'm hungry"

"That's Ash for ya. Always hungry no matter where he goes" Brock added soon followed with a laugh.

"Well if you're hungry I believe I can be of assistance there" came Janis's voice as she entered the girl's side of the hot spring, "My granddaughter is quite the chef. I believe she can whip something up for you kids"

"Grandma!" came the girl's voice from the other room.

"Ohohohohoho… don't worry about her she's just a bit shy at times that's all. She doesn't leave the house much"

"I heard that!"

**(Castle Moore bird tower)**

Shani, the knight lieutenant of the Order of Malak was preparing to depart from the tower that afternoon after her mission debriefing by the commander. She had assembled with her about three dozen knights all well trained and ready to give their lives to the cause of their Order. But during cold days like this it was hard to tell what time of day it was seeing as the sun barely shows itself here in the frozen north.

But as the girl saddled up her Staraptor and prepared to depart for the Orange Islands a presence standing beside her flying Pokemon caught her attention. "What do you want now Havic?" she asked in groaned annoyingly.

"You don't sound very happy to see me Shani" the man known as Havic grinned menacingly. He was just about the same age as Shani with black spiky hair, but instead wearing a green hoodie which means that he belonged to another unit of the Order. His most defining trademark would probably be the three scar scratches on his left cheek.

"I was never happy to see you" the girl replied as she fastened the saddle around Staraptor. "If you have something to say, make it quick. I have a mission to go to"

"What's the rush? Even with this kind of a blizzard it would take you hours before you can even reach the sea border of the Orange Archipelago" he cooed slowly like he was trying to seduce her. "Why don't you relax and things will just go your way. Besides, The End of The World is coming, isn't it?"

"Hold your words Havic!" Shani yelled out, holding the hilt of her sword, "The Order of lord Malak was originally created for this purpose. To stop that event from ever happening. If you ever were a member of the Green Brigade, you will know to hold such thoughts to yourself and be more optimistic"

"Hey, don't be so hostile" Havic again cooed not one bit shaken by the girl's yell. "This is a free world after all so I can say what please. (long pause) I heard about your previous mission. They say that it didn't go very well because the defenders of the train were a bit too much for you. I must say that it was a bit unexpected. I didn't think a few Pokemon Rangers and trainers would be a match against the White Wings" this insult however caught the attention of the other knights in the area.

"Careful of what you say Havic" Shani replied threateningly, "Your next few words, might just be your last" an immense killing intent could already be felt throughout the room. The feeling was so dreadful that even some of the Pokemons there were trembling in their nests.

But instead of waiting for the green knight commander to reply, Shani immediately boarded her Staraptor and waved her hand on her soldiers. "Men, it's time to move out! Our destination is… the Orange Islands!"

"Hoe!!" and with one cheer altogether the knight rode on their flying Pokemons and flew up high into the sky towards their next destination. Their grace and beauty were as marvelous as the snow themselves. The weather did not affect their morale nor their conscious.

And with the last of them gone, Havic crossed his arms together and smirked, "Tch… just because she's an Aura Guardian she thinks herself above everyone else. What a naïve girl…" he sighed before leaving for his duties.

**(Back at the Half Way Home Inn) (03:00 PM)**

Right after the gang had finished their hot spring bath, Janis immediately invited them into having some snack at the restaurant to pass up the day. But unfortunately since the place didn't have that many customers, the only things the granddaughter could find were some toast bread and some jam.

"Sorry about this everyone" the blonde girl apologized as she felt a little embarrassed about the snack she prepared for them. "I didn't think we would be getting customers today so I didn't do the groceries ahehehe"

"That's alright" Brock waved it off while taking a bite off the toast on the plate. "A little easy going snack is always the perfect way to fill up your stomach when you're hungry. We wouldn't want to have another bad stomach day like last time, do we Ash?"

"Ahehehe… yeah… I remember" the boy rubbed his head remembering the time when he ate too much on one meal.

Dawn chuckled, "Well anyway, at least we're all refreshed now. Tomorrow we should all practice till we can't even move our legs anymore"

"That's the spirit Dawn" Ash cheered, "Nothing says overkill more than an extreme training session. We'll start off early and work on all the combinations we have. I still need to fix on some of mine as well"

"Hey don't forget me" Kenny entered the scene, "I still have plenty of techniques that I haven't shown you guys and the grand festival will be the place to let it all out" and while the gang continued to brag about their own skills at each other, Janis couldn't help but feel young again. To be surrounded by such energetic youth made it feel like thirty years had just washed away from her body.

"My my, youths today are so energetic" the old lady smiled, "If you lot are on a quest to have a practice match, then I have a suggestion" she quickly showed them a small flyer that she received from the weekly newspaper and opened it. "If its training you want, then this will be the place to do it"

Grand Festival Tag Team Opening Performance (Unofficial)

Register at: Sinnoh stadium central office

Entry requirements: Pokedex and Trainer Certificate

Conditions: One Pokemon for each round. The same Pokemon will not be allowed to perform twice

Rounds: The contest serves as match rounds.

Round 1- Tag team performance

Round 2- Quarter final tag team performance battle

Round 3- Semi final tag team performance battle

Round 4- Final round performance battle

Prize: The Sinnoh stadium 1st contest ribbon (2) and an all you can eat dinner for two at the Resone restaurant.

"An opening contest for the grand festival?" Brock motioned to the title of the flyer. "So it's like the preview of the real thing"

Janis nodded, "Yes indeed. From the looks on your faces, you all must be seasoned Pokemon trainers just like my granddaughter here"

"Grandmother!"

"Hey it'll be great to have a little practice" Kenny agreed to the idea, "We could use this as our training before the real thing"

"I'm sure that some of the tough coordinators will probably be there too" Zoey agreed to the idea, "We could learn from our opponents"

"Well it says here that each team requires at least two members to participate" Brock analyzed as he read the flyer, "You guys will have to pair up in two to participate"

"Hey I can go with Dawn" Kenny recommended to which surprised the girl. "Yeah, you and I can do a double performance before the show. But you'd better keep up with me… Dee… dee" he cooed her most hated nickname out loud followed by a snickering noise.

"Hey!" Dawn fumed, "Just because you started your Pokemon journey earlier than me, that doesn't mean I'm behind! Remember who won in the Floaroma contest!"

"Well then that leaves me with you Nando" Zoey turned her attention to the harpist who simply waved in rejection.

"Oh no… I think I'll sit this one out" he replied holding his harp up. "I think I can gather more information about our opponent by just watching on the stands. Besides, it's been so long since I last watched a contest match without worrying about my next performance"

"Well why don't you take Ash?" Brock recommended pointing to the boy next to him.

Ash was quite surprise to see himself as a candidate, "What? Me? But this is a contest Brock. I can't enter this"

"Oh come on now. You've entered plenty of contests before. Besides, Zoey needs a partner and who better than the best Pokemon trainer I know? So how about it Zoey?"

"Well I'm fine with it" the red head coordinator replied smiling, "Besides, I'd like to see what surprises you have under your sleeves Ash. I've seen you perform in many contests after we last met"

"Well I didn't win any of them" the boy laughed back embarrassed, "But I guess I could use some practice along the way! (Pika pika!) Alright Zoey, you got yourself a partner!"

"Alright!"

But just as they were cheering on their new partnership, another new voice came into the room. "Would you keep it down over there?!" yelled an old man about the same age as Janis, "How's an old man supposed to sleep with all these racking?! I can barely even hear myself snore!" then suddenly, Janis came in and bonked the guys head with a newspaper roll. "Oww! What did I do!?"

"You left the counter again you nimb wit!" the old lady yelled. "I asked you clearly to keep an eye for customers and you ran off taking a nap! (whack!) Are you reading your taro cards again!? (whack!) I tell you that's all you ever do! Why don't you try predicting good fortune for our resort once in awhile!? (WHAM!)"

"Who's that?" Ash asked out of curiosity.

"Oh that's my grandpa, Luis" the blonde girl answered, "He may not look like much but he's an expert in reading taro cards"

"Taro cards?"

"It's like a small game that predicts your future. He uses a set of cards to read someone's fate and destiny. And he's never wrong…… at least for awhile now. You guys wanna give it a try?" surprisingly, everyone agreed, "Ok then. Grandpa, the customers are wondering if you could read their futures for them?"

The old man who was now known as Luis that was being beaten by his own wife immediately turned his attention to the gang that has asked for his services. "Hmm? Sure… I guess? I haven't had much practice with other people for awhile now" after a couple of minutes, the old man joined the gang on the table and placed a deck of cards on the surface. "Alright, which one of you youngsters wanna go first?"

"Me!" Brock raised his hand almost instantly, "Me me me me me me me me!"

"Alright, hold your Horseas, small eyes" Luis groaned before raising his cards at him. "Alright you, hold your hand over them here cards and think of what you want to know about the most. But remember, I can only predict what can and what cannot happen to you. If want to know something that cannot happen to you, the cards will simply be shuffled in random" Brock nodded to the old man's instructions and hesitantly held his hand over the cards. He could feel the presence of the cards shifting beneath it but couldn't really tell if it was the wind or the cards. After awhile, Luis took the card away and began shuffling. "Ok… I see that you are a Pokemon breeder"

"Whoa, did the cards tell you that?"

"Hmm? Oh no no no. There's a Pokemon breeding guide poking out of your pocket so I just thought that you might be a Pokemon breeder. Anyway, back to the matters at hand………." The old man slowly began shuffling the cards on his own and placed three of them on the table. "Let's see there, the deck says that you asked three questions about yourself. One is your love, two is your future life, and three is your career as a breeder"

"Yes! Wow, I guess this taro card thing isn't a trick after all!" Brock said excitingly, "So what does it say?"

The old man quickly then picked four cards from the top and placed them over the previous cards that he put there earlier. "Well I must say that your career as a breeder is already certainly guaranteed but it says that there will always be room for better effort, you have lived an exciting life after all these years and have no regret whatsoever about what you have done"

"Wow… is that true Brock?" Dawn questioned but the boy did not reply, he simply kept starring at the cards in front of him.

"W… well… what about my love life?" he asked finally out of desperation.

The old man puffed up a little and flipped opened his cards, "Well for one thing I can tell. The girl you're looking for is…………"

"Is…?" some of gang said in unison.

Luis gave out a moments pause and looked at the card nodding, "The girl you seek……… is not here" Brock immediately face faulted on the table like he was just hit by an invisible mallet of heartbreak love. "Sorry boy, but I only tell the facts, not fiction. If you don't like it then I can't help you there"

While Brock was busy sobbing comically on the corner, Kenny decided to go on next. "Hey how about me? Can you read my future?" Luis didn't reject the offer since he had not tried it with people for awhile he could care less if they believed him or not. After selecting the cards the old man resumed his work.

"You have asked two questions" he stated boringly, "One is your future and second is how you will do in the Sinnoh Festival… yes?" Kenny nodded in response, "Well to answer both of your questions, all I have to say is: Your future is yet to be written"

"Huh?"

"Many people believe that their future is set in stones, but in truth there is actually hundreds of them, perhaps even thousands" Luis explained thoroughly, "The future can change even with a simple touch of hand my boy. So it doesn't matter what future I look in, it can only go in the direction you choose………… Do you understand?"

"Um… I guess so…"

"The same goes for your Pokemon contest match. No one can tell if you can win or lose, it is simply up to you if you want to win it. But from what I can tell…… I believe that you will do just fine in the grand festival, my boy"

"Ummm… thanks… I think…" Kenny replied a little confused with the old man's explanation.

A few minutes later Dawn came in, "Can I try next?" Luis looked at her for a moment and nodded before shuffling the taro cards again. After he was done the girl happily place her hand on top of the deck and allowed it to read her thoughts.

"Hmm… you too are also asking the same questions as that last boy" Luis stated boringly, "You simply wish to go on and do your best in the contest and to meet someone's expectation, nothing more……" and just when he was about to finish, three cards suddenly flew off from the deck, landing directly in a triangular formation. "Oh… what's this? Three extras? Let's see…… hmm… emm hmm…… hmm… emm hmm… yes"

"What is it?" Dawn asked a little curious on what the cards were saying.

"Hmm… it appears you have a little conflict with your emotions"

"Conflict?" Ash raised a brow of curiosity up, "About what?"

"Well it appears this young lady is in conflict on what she is exactly trying to do?"

"I am?" Dawn questioned. "But I don't feel conflicted"

"It is a locked emotion, child. Knowing it and realizing it are entirely different perspective. You may not realize it yet, but sooner or later it will come to surface. All you need to do now… is wait and before you know it, you'll realize it"

"O… k… so what about the other cards?"

Luis quickly flipped up the second card and nodded slightly in gesture, "This second card signifies a hidden strength within you. It is a weakness you have yet to discover as well. You draw strength from another because you are uncertain of your own. Do you know who this person is?"

"Oh that's easy" Dawn smiled, "I draw my strength from my mom. Whenever I feel a little down I know that my mom can give me strength no matter where she is"

"Hmm…" the old fortune teller didn't show emotion on his face. He simply nodded and continued reading the cards, "If that is what you believe then there is nothing more to tell. Now let's see (opens card) This third card signifies guilt. A heavy card to bear I may say. It has landed on your future so that must mean you will soon be suffering from a great guilt. What that guilt is… I do not know"

"Wow… talk about bad luck" Kenny humored earning him a glare from Dawn.

"Oh huffle puff!" the girl groaned, "I don't really believe in fortune telling anyway"

"Then there is nothing left to tell" Luis nodded before reshuffling the cards again. After Dawn got back with the group, the old man turned his attention to the other guests. "So who else wants their futures read today? Hmm?"

"Oh no thanks" Zoey declined.

"I'd rather discover my own future than to have someone spoil it for me" Nando added

"A wise decision…" Luis mumbled before Ash came into scene.

"Then I'll go next" the boy stated as he raised his hand.

Luis did one quick scan on the boy's face and frowned, "Your future is full of idiotic ideas, stupidity and hard headedness. You have no regards for your own safety and your IQ is as small as a Slowbro"

"Eh?" Ash was really dumbstruck by the old man's barrage of words, "But you didn't even let me pick a card yet"

"I don't have to. It's written all over your face" immediately some of the gang members began chuckling of his accurate deduction. Ash was indeed an idiot at times and his ideas for side trips did make him look stupid. He was also extremely hard headed when listening to other people's advice and of course his safety came last when it comes to adventure.

"Hey that's not funny!" Ash groaned.

"Grandpa!" the blonde girl fumed, "At least give Ash a fair chance"

The old man didn't really want to do this anymore but since his granddaughter said so then I guess he had no other choice. After a puff of smoke he laid the cards up from and allowed Ash to go on with the tradition. "Alright fine. Put your hand over the cards" the boy did as he was told and placed his hand over the deck. After awhile he could feel a strange tingling happening beneath his palms like a feather tickling him. "Ok… let's see" Luis then picked out two cards from the deck and placed it on the ground. "You have asked two questions. One is your future, second is your Pokemons"

"Yup"

"Hmm… the second question is always easy" Luis then flipped another card off the deck and placed it on the second one, "You have always put your Pokemons first and would do nothing to hurt them at all. You trust them like you trust your own family and put their lives before your own" to say the least Ash and the others were a little dumbfounded by his accuracy, "Hmm… well from what I can tell you should stop worrying about them and start looking after your own health. Your Pokemons can handle themselves in a fight and…" just when he was about to continue, another card fell into the second one. "Oh what's this? Betrayal? Hmm…"

"Uh… what does that mean?"

"It means your Pokemons will someday turn against you" he laid it out plain and simply. "But I do not know why… hmm… curious. Anyway to the next one…" he then place three cards on the first one and opened them up one by one, "Hmm… in your future, I see… the Maidens… the Obelisk and…… the Knights?"

"So… what does that mean exactly?"

"I do not know myself" Luis admitted as he analyzed the cards again, "These three cards never came out in this order before"

"That means your deduction is inaccurate" Dawn said triumphant. "Come on Ash, let's go. We still have to register for the Sinnoh stadium opening contest"

"Yeah I guess" Ash agreed before standing up. "Thank you for the tea" he added before waving goodbye.

"We'll come visit again soon" Zoey added waving off towards the exit. "Thanks for the hot spring"

"Don't stress yourselves out now, ya hear?" Janis waved at them, "Come back any time and I'll keep a candle light open for ya! Good luck at the contest!" and as the gang was finally out of sight, Janis then turned towards her granddaughter with a grin, "My my, kids nowadays are so full of dreams and energy. Reminds me when I was a lot younger ahehehe. By the way… why didn't you want to have a practice battle with them dear?"

"Grandmother, you know why" the blonde replied as she slowly removed her turban and flu mask allowing her hair to flow right back down onto her legs..

"Oh I see… you must have a crush on that Ash boy don't you" this of course made the girl flush in embarrassment.

"What?! Of course not! Whatever made you come to that conclusion!?"

Janis laughed, "Oh come on now. He's a nice boy and I don't see much in age difference. Besides… aren't celebrities tied together like you…Cynthia?"


	6. Preordain Battle

Chapter 6: Preordain Battle

**Chapter 6: Preordain Battle**

**(Pokemon Center training area) (The day of the Grand Festival Opening Performance Contest)** (Phew, that's a mouth full)

We come back again to the Sinnoh region's grand stadium where the awaited day of the Opening Performance Contest was about to begin. And to waste no time at all, Ash and his friends woke up early today to have a little warm up battle.

"Pachirisu, use discharge!" Dawn ordered. And within a second, the little raccoon immediately unleash a power surge of electricity through its body, sending flashes out into the morning sky. "Alright Kenny, it's all yours"

Dawn's partner nodded and quickly brought out his starter Pokemon, Prinplup, "Right! Prinplup, use bubble beam, go!" the penguin Pokemon then fired a volley of bubbles at the electricity, making it glitter and dance beautifully like a mirror trick shown by street corner magicians. "Alright Dawn, finish it off!"

"Pachrisu, sweet kiss, now!" immediately heart shaped objects flew into the air, merging with the bubbles and with the electricity combined, they connected with one another, becoming that of giant heart shape. After a little while, they all exploded, becoming small particles of dust that blew gently downwards to the ground.

"Awesome job you two!" Brock commented while clapping his hands, "With that kind of performance, I think you'll do great in the Opening Performance"

"I must agree as well" Nando nodded, "Your performance in battle is simply unique. I have not seen such a splendor in many days now. I'm sure that the first round will be as easy as pie itself"

"Thanks you two, but I got to say, Pachirisu and Prinplup did most of the work" Dawn replied. She then felt a tug on her leg and noticed that it was Pachirisu begging for another one of its mistress's tasty Poffins. "Oh here you go Pachirisu, you worked real hard today. If you keep that up, we'll definitely win the opening performance for sure"

"All that matter is teamwork" Kenny smirked, "If we keep this up, we might just make it to champions ahehehehe!"

Brock admired the boy's confidence but knew that, that emotion was like a double edge sword. If he strays too far even by just one step then it could result into disaster. "Anyway" the young breeder stated, "Let's go see how Ash is doing" but as they all turned their heads to where Ash and Zoey were, they realize that the two have not yet moved an inch since they've agreed to train.

"You ready Ash?" Zoey called in for the boy's attention, "Just go with the flow of the performance. Try not to fall behind"

But the boy simply grinned and rubbed the dirt from his nose as he replied, "Hey I was born ready. Bring it on Zoey!"

"Right then… Glameow, use ice beam!" the cat like Pokemon immediately fired a ray of ice from its mouth making a large pillar of ice on the ground.

"Alright, my turn then! Turtwig, come on out and use razor leaf!" a green turtle like Pokemon immediately fired out a volley of leaves from its twig like head and within minutes it began shaping the ice pillar into something very familiar. A few cuts there and a couple of cuts here and with a trim over at the top and Ash was done. "Alright Turtwig, now use energy ball, right at the center!" the green turtle then fired a high velocity energy ball from its mouth and pounded the ice pillar right onto shape. "Ok Zoey, take it from here!"

"Right! Glameow, use shadow claw, go!" and with one quick cut from the cat Pokemon the claws of Glameow sliced through the remnants of the pillar, breaking it into shape. Once both trainer's Pokemons were down on the ground everything came into place. Their combined tactical minds and power didn't only make a splendid performance, but at the end of the performance, they made the ice pillar into a statue of Palkia the deity Pokemon of space.

To say the least, Ash's friends and a couple of other coordinators were awestruck by their performance. To actually make an exact ice replica of a godlike Pokemon in just seconds was something to be praised about. Their performance was so in synch that they might just as well be true partners in battle.

"A… amazing…" was the only word that left Brock's mouth at that time. The chill and the beauty of the sculpture was so impressive that even his tonsils had a hard time moving.

"I… incredible" Nando agreed, "Such a great combination between power and strategy. With Ash's strength in battle and Zoey's thinking they might actually be the strongest pair of coordinators around!"

Even Dawn had to agree with that. Ash and Zoey's performance was so great and fantastic that it made their combination look like street art not even worthy of being in the stadium. This thought alone made her swallow down a hard gulp of her saliva down her throat.

"Great work Ash" Zoey complimented her partner, "You've really been practicing those moves I taught you. This statue looks almost like the real thing"

"Yeah, but there's always room for improvement" Ash replied. "Turtwig and I have been through a lot, but we still can't keep our guard down. Who knows how tough our opponents will be?"

After gawking at the ice sculpture for a little while, Brock soon broke off his trance and turned his head to the boy to congratulate him on a job well done. "Wow! That' was awesome you guys" he began, "You really out did yourselves this time. I didn't even blinked either" he then noticed that several tourists who came to visit the Pokemon Center were taking photos of the ice sculpture in hopes of capturing its beauty before the heat melts it away.

**(Fire Island) (Orange Archipelago)**

The Fire Island, the land of an active volcano, and home to the mighty and legendary Pokemon Moltres, who governs all the heat of the seas. The land itself was so barren and so desolated that it made the desert look like a tropical sunshine view. This place was once a sacred ground to the old believers of the great god Pokemons. In recognition of the great Moltres, the locals of the isles built an altar at the center of the volcano as an offering to the great fire bird.

But those days were long gone now………….

Boom!

That was the sound of a flamethrower attack coming from Moltres's mouth onto Shani's location. She had led the knights here to claim the fire stone from the fire god himself to serve their own purpose, but obviously Moltres wasn't going to allow that. When Shani approached the orb, the firebird immediately leaped off to higher ground and attacked her with all kinds of fire type powers.

But Shani had been through tougher odds before. She would never fall against such a small fry like a Pokemon.

"What a nuisance" she grumbled as she dodged another flame thrower from Moltres's mouth. As the firebird flew back up to get a better angle, hell cell phone suddenly began to ring. "Yeah, it's me…" she answered.

"Milady, we have the fire stone. We'll meet back at point A in three minutes" came the knight on the other line.

"Roger…" and with that she put her phone down and smirked, "180 seconds huh………… plenty of time" when Moltres finally came back down for another attack, Shani did not dodge the flame thrower. Instead she just stood there and allowed herself to get burned.

The heat was so intense that the earth that she was standing on began to boil as well. If stone boiled that fast then surely her pale skin would not last a minute.

As Moltres flew back down to claim its victory, it suddenly got a strange feeling that the battle was not yet over. And to his intuition, he was right. A few seconds later when Shani got roasted, the fire that consumed her suddenly vanished into thin air with a simple blow of the wind. And from within the fire, Shani stood there, smiling and unharmed from the fire.

"Is that the best you got?" she grinned before lifting her hand up, "You think that strength of yours can truly match against an Aura Guardian? Well you think wrong…" and with one strong punch on the ground, everything within a ten meter radius around the girl froze below -100 degrees. Moltres could not have seen that attack coming and before it could fly away, its left wing got caught in the attack and froze into a popsicle. "Kweeeaacck!" it screeched out before falling unconscious on the ground.

"Don't bother yourself" Shani stated, "You won't wake up for a long while…… god of fire" and after she let out a small sigh, she picked up her phone and pressed a speed dial button. "It's me" she stated as the answer sound came in, "Moltres has been contained, send in the pick up team"

"Understood, team four is on its way" and with that request given, she hung up.

With the great winged god of fire down for the count, Shani immediately tapped the dirt off her white hoodie before turning away to leave. Her mission was done and nothing more needed to be done. That blow she gave to the Pokemon would make it unconscious for at least six hours, so she had plenty of time to relax. As she managed to return to where her knights were waiting, they all gave her a respectful salute. "Excellent work milady" said one of her knights.

"It was nothing. Even the Blue Fins could've taken that beast down" she replied before following the knight to the camp. "Is everything going according to plan?"

"Yes ma'am. All three islands are now under our complete control. The neighboring islands have not noticed our presence yet but it will only be a matter of time"

"Good, tell them to pack up and take the stones back to castle Moore. I don't want to attract more attention than necessary" but just when she was about to continue, a small armored Pigeoto came into view, carrying a message by its claw. "Hmm?" without hesitating one bit, the girl untied the letter and scanned its contents briefly. Luckily she had a photographic memory built inside her head so she didn't need to read it twice. After a short pause, she turned her attention back to the knights. "We have new orders: We're bringing the three legendaries with us to castle Moore. Get ready to move out!"

"Yes!" and with that the knights began disbursing from their work.

"Take the legendaries?" the sergeant said quizzly, "What do we need them for?"

"It did not say" was her answer, "All that is says that the commander wants all three of the legendaries taken with us. And that's good enough for me. Prepare to ship them out" and with one salute the knight sergeant was gone.

With all of her knights working at full capacity, Shani let out another small sigh as a gesture of her boredom. She had just battled three legendary Pokemons and single-handedly brought them all down with just a simple touch of her inner power. She required something more of a challenge than just simple head hunting. She wanted to prove herself even more that she was the greatest among the knights. But those thoughts had to be cast aside for now as the rest of the group began to leave the camp.

What are the knights planning? And what are they planning to do with the stones of fire, ice and lightning? These questions… only time… can tell…

**(Sinnoh league city mini battle arena)**

Smoke and fireworks strangely lit into the morning sky, exploding in the sound of joy and laughter. The stands in which the audience sat upon looked down excitingly as they prepare themselves for a sneak preview of the Grand Festival competitors. Many coordinators and trainers were assembling themselves in the waiting room waiting for their number to be called, and even though that this was an unofficial match, it did not mean that they were not nervous.

"Well this looks like our spot" Brock stated as he sat on the stand with a bag of popcorn in hand. "Come on Nando, the contest is about to start"

"Coming" the harpist replied as he squeezed himself in, "It looks like half the city is all cramped up in here. I wonder how many more will be coming during the Grand Festival itself"

"Well it'll be a lot bigger that's for sure" as the light dimmed down all eyes turned to the narrator who was standing on stage. "Popcorn?"

"Oh no thanks I just ate"

"Ladies and gentlemen!" came the narrator's voice, "Welcome to the first Sinnoh Grand Festival Opening Performance! I'm your host, Kitty!"

"WOW!!" Brock jolted his body forward as if he wanted to jump down as propose to her. "What a girl!!"

The girl was about in her mid teens, wearing an extremely sexy and extremely revealing kitty like costume with her knees and belly button exposed. "We will be beginning the first round of the contest in just a moment, so please hang on to your hats, because… here we go! As judges of this contest, we have a special guest, Mr. Goodshow!"

"Yes, thank you" the man known as Mr. Goodshow nodded, "I expect great things from everyone out there"

"And our second judge will be none other than… Nurse Joy from Sunnyshore city!"

The pink haired nurse nodded, "Yes, thank you. I hope to see a lot of excellent performance today"

With their introductions done and ready, Kitty soon signaled the light crew to turn off the lights so that all eyes may only focus on the stadium, "And so… ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, let's bring out our first pair!" and with that last light work done, Kitty exited the stage and move onto the sides to narrate the performance.

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While the first pair went up to give out their performance, Ash and the gang who entered the contest watched from the view screen to see what they were up against. But after so much training and experience gathered from various contests they came through, very little surprises them anymore.

"Looks like our first two competitors are heating things up" Kitty narrated from the view screen.

As the other coordinators looked up to watch, Dawn busied himself in curling her Buneary's ear. She was wearing her favorite pink dress and her hair was tied up to look like a ponytail. "Looks like we'll be up on the fourth" she stated to herself, "Well… I guess there's nothing left but to give it our all. Right guys?" she said to her Pokemons which they cheered back in reply. "Right. Let's give it our all!"

"Looks like you're all hyped up" came Kenny who was standing beside her watching the view screen. He was wearing his usual green Bullfighter costume. If only someone would give him a sombrero, a sword and a red cape then he'd be indistinguishable from the real bullfighters.

"Oh hey Kenny. Ready for our big show?"

"You bet" came his instant reply, "But with all the coordinators here, I think the competition will be pretty tough. It's best to keep our eyes on the screen as long as possible. Who knows what kind of opponents we'll be having?" but then he noticed a familiar red head coming their way, "Oh hey Zoey…" but then he noticed that the girl was not with her partner, "Hey… where's Ash?"

"He's in the changing room right now" Zoey replied gesturing to the private rooms at the back. She was now wearing her traditional light green tuxedo which parted from her waist and goes right down just right above her feet. "His old contest clothes wouldn't fit him anymore so I asked my friend to bring one of his old costumes"

"I guess Ash is growing in more ways that one" Dawn chuckled slightly amused. "Did you get him some kind of Pikachu costume?"

"Nope, even better" and just when she was about to tell them what it was another voice came up behind her.

"Hey Zoey, are you sure this thing isn't a little too small?" Ash said wearily, "I think I wore it too tight around the neck" he was wearing something that most people would call a wedding tux. His entire body was completely white, with a graceful looking bowtie to boot. He wore a white longs sleeve coat over a white west over a slightly blakish T-shirt. His shoes were shiny and his pants were like that of ghost. If he was any whiter than he was now, the light would've reflected upon him and onto his friends. His Pokemon Ranger wristband was still exposed on his left arm so it was easy to pick out his Pokeballs and Pokedex.

"Don't worry" Zoey calmed him as she fixed his collar, "My friend wore this during his wedding day so he doesn't use it anymore. You look great"

"You think so?" Ash replied unsure, "What do you think Dawn?"

As all three of them turn their eyes to the girl in question, they realized that Dawn was in a state of trance. With just one quick scan of Ash's new threads, Dawn felt as if her body had went into major meltdown mode. Her heart was beating probably a hundred times a second, her face lit up bright red like a Christmas tree, and her mouth was gapped so wide open that she even forgot to breath for a whole minute. When all of these feelings finally sorted in, she turned her attention back to the boy's face.

His strong muscular figure was not like anything she could've ever imagined on him. The little Zs under his eyes made him look like he had dimples. His deep golden eyes pierced into her soul, sucking her ectroplasmic material into it making it look like a black hole with no end. She tried to say something back but the words just seemed to be stuck inside her throat. "A… a… a… awesome…" she said finally after a stutter.

"Really?" Ash noted before flashing out one of his trademark smiles, "Thanks Dawn, now I feel better" the moment the boy flashed out his smile to her, Dawn's face immediately lit up bright red and heck… even steam was coming out of her ears.

To ease the pressure happening in her head, the girl immediately continued combing Buneary's ears so that she didn't have to turn her face to the boy. "A a a a a… no problem! Ahehehehe… you you… you look great ahahaha!" but sadly she was combing so hard that Buneary almost felt like her ears were gonna come off. "Ah! Sorry Buneary"

"So when are you guys going up next?" Kenny inquired out of curiosity, "We're gonna be the fourth team out there today and after that will be those two over there" he pointed to the two kids wearing oddly familiar clothing.

"Well… actually…" Ash smiled embarrassingly as he held up his card. He was number forty-four… the last performers. "We're the last ones going out there"

"Ash made an unlucky draw at the counter" Zoey explained smiling half heartedly. "He felt so sure about his luck that he thought we were gonna get a good number"

"I was planning to get number one so we could perform first, but I guess luck wasn't on my side today ahehehehehe"

"Well whatever happens, I'm sure we'll all do great" Kenny grinned, "Besides, this will probably be a good warm up for all of us"

"Yeah I agree (Pikachu…) Nothing brings out the best in you than a real Pokemon battle"

But just as they were about to continue the conversation the speaker in the room beeped up. "Attention, pair number four, pair number four, please head to the starting area to begin your performance. Thank you"

"Looks like we're up" Kenny smirked, "You ready Dawn?"

"Ready!" she replied holding her Buneary on her waist. As they departed towards the main gate, she turned her eyes back to Ash one more time before he blended in with the crowd. "Wish us luck!"

"I don't think you'll be needing it" Ash replied waving back at her. With the fourth pair gone onto stage, Ash soon turned his attention to the view screen up on the wall. "Here she goes…"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Kitty began, "And now for our next performers, both hailing from Twinleaf town… I proudly give you… Dawn and Kenny! Along with their Pokemon: Buneary and Breloom!"

"Alright, its about time" Brock motioned, "Now we'll see what Dawn and Kenny are truly capable of"

"I must say that they must really have a trick up their sleeves" Nando nodded before noticing a hotdog man on the stairs, "Two hotdogs over here!"

"Coming right up!"

As both Dawn and Kenny entered up on stage, they immediately released their Pokemons from their Pokeballs which engulfed in both a star shape and a heart shape. "Alright Kenny, just like we planned it. Buneary, use ice beam now!" immediately the rabbit like Pokemon created a giant chunk of ice in mid air. "Alright Kenny, do it!"

"Breloom, use energy ball from down below!" the grass Pokemon then fired a ball of energy onto the ice burg, sending it higher into the air. "Dawn, I leave the rest to you!"

"What's this?" Kitty said slightly quizzled, "It looks like Kenny had just sent that giant ice burg into the sky! What are they planning to do next?"

"Even I'm a bit curious myself" Brock admitted as he watch the ice cube slowly coming down back on the ground, "If they don't stop that ice burg quick, they're gonna lose a lot of points"

"Right!" As Dawn timed her move carefully, she quickly saw a weakness on the ice burg and decided to exploit it while she still can. "Now Buneary, use mega punch attack on that weak spot!" with one single punch at the right location of the ice, the entire block cracked open like a can of sardine and broke into billion of pieces, falling down gracefully on the ground.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Amazing!" Kitty continued from the view screen, "Buneary easily cut through that ice block with just one single punch. That just shows that you can never judge one's strength through looks and size everyone"

Zoey let off a small smile as she too was also mildly impressed with Dawn's work. She knew that the girl had come far, probably even farther than she could ever have in a whole year. They all had their share of troubles and joyous times and after overcoming all obstacles, Dawn had become a better coordinator and a better person. "Looks like Dawn is making a great performance" she stated out. She was expecting a reply from Ash, but all she got in return was pure silence. "Don't you think so A…"

But the girl stopped mid sentence when she noticed that Ash was in a different mood than he was before. His eyes were completely focused on the view screen, his arms were crossed, his mouth mowed downward to a deep and serious frown and his ears seemed like they have been cut off from the rest of the world.

"Ash? Ash?!" Zoey raised her slightly to get his attention. Immediately Ash snapped away from his trance and back onto his partner.

"Huh? Oh sorry Zoey. I guess I was a little distracted" the boy apologized.

"More like you were in a trance" the redhead corrected, "Is something wrong?"

Ash didn't really want to confess but he knew that his feelings would come out sooner or later. "Well… I guess you could say that I'm a little worried"

"About Dawn?"

The boy nodded in reply, "Yeah…… she's been through a lot these past few months. I'm still worried sometimes that she won't be able to do it. She trained with me for a long time now and I remember that time during her losing streak. She was really sad and… I guess… I guess I just don't want her to be like that again. Seeing her sad… makes me sad as well"

Knowing that his worries were in good position and why he was in such a serious mood, Zoey let out another gentle smile before giving the boy a pat on the back. "You worry too much… you know that?"

"Huh?"

"Dawn maybe a clut sometimes but she knows what she's doing. This is what she had been training for all this time. So don't worry about her and have a little faith"

Ash paused for a short moment there trying to process the information. But after hearing those words from Zoey, he soon realized that Dawn was no longer that naïve girl that he met back in Twinleaf town. She had outgrown her shell and became that of a coordinator any person would be proud of. Perhaps he just didn't realize it yet. "Yeah… I guess you're right" Ash smiled before turning his attention back to the view screen where Dawn's performance just ended.

"What a fantastic show by Dawn and Kenny from Twinleaf town!" Kitty continued, "Let's give them a round of applause everyone!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

On the stairs overlooking the entire contest stage, Team Rocket, the pathetic excuse of villains were in disguise as hotdog sellers. They did not have passage to the stadium due to all the tickets being sold out and sadly Jessie and James were unable to participate in the competition since they did not have a Pokedex which provided them with a trainer certificate.

"Eerrrrr… look at those clowns" the purple haired villain growled, "I should be the own down there. I could be exciting the crowd right about now!"

"But Jessie, neither of us has a Pokemon trainer certificate nor a Pokedex for that matter" James reasoned with a small sweat drop.

"Besides, the security here is pretty thorough" Meowth added carrying some tomato sauce with him, "We were lucky enough just to get through the guards with our disguises. Why don't we just sit back and enjoy the show?"

"I agree. Besides, we might even make a profit selling all these hotdogs"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As Dawn and Kenny returned to the waiting room, the next pair suddenly showed up in front of them. "Hey, nice show" said the one in the red hat. He was accompanied by his partner with blonde hair wearing an oddly colored T-shirt

"Thanks" Kenny replied holding a smirk, "You guys must be next. I'll see you guys later?"

"Definitely!" said the blonde boy with a thumbs up, "This contest will be as easy as pie! Come on partner!" and without even waiting for a reply the boy jolted off towards the entrance faster than a hungry hound to a well cooked steak.

The boy in the red hat sweat dropped as he tried to stop his partner from leaving without him, "W… wait up! Don't go without me!" and just as he brushed off Dawn's shoulder, the girl couldn't help but get a strange feeling about those two.

"Huh?"

"What's up Dawn?" Kenny asked.

"Oh… nothing…… I just got a feeling that I know him from somewhere" when the two pairs left the scene Dawn decided to let it go and thought it to be nothing more but a strange coincidence. "Oh well I guess it was just my imagination"

"And now ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce to you our next pair: Lucas and Pearl!"

As both Kenny and Dawn walked into the waiting room, the other crowd didn't seem to be bothered by their presence. They were simply too busy watching the view screen to see their next competitors. "Well it looks like everyone has their own problems" Kenny remarked before turning his attention back to Dawn, "Hey Dawn, after this contest, do you wanna…" he was unable to finish his sentence when the girl he was talking to suddenly dashed away to the sight of Ash. "H… hey!"

"Ash!" the girl squealed right in front of him like a kid asking for candy. "Did you see my performance? How did I do?"

The boy with the Pikachu on his shoulder smiled, "You did great Dawn. I was very impress. You really gave those judge something to look out for. You'll make it to the second round for sure"

"Thanks!" and at that very moment when Ash held Dawn's shoulder, Kenny felt a slight ting of jealously run through his spine. Dawn had never acted that happy when she was with her, and to ask on how she performed was like a total insult. Before he even realized it, the boy was already clenching his teeth and balling his fist like he was about to strike at any moment. He couldn't tell what these feelings were but he was sure that it was somewhere buried beneath him.

"Hey Kenny" the boy in question was then quickly brought out of trance when Ash spoke up his name. "What's the matter? You look kinda pale"

Kenny immediately began shaking his head in defense, "What? Oh no I was just a little tired from that show a minute ago. I was uh… lost in thought yeah…" he let out a small laugh. _'What happened just awhile ago?'_ he thought to himself as he looked at his hands. They were a little red from the burnt anger that he unleashed a minute ago.

**(Pokemon Research Institute HQ) (Priority one lab A7)**

Deep within the complex of the PRI headquarters lies the highest security lab in the entire region. A place where only the top scientists, researchers and those with special permissions are allowed to enter and carry out its secrets with great secrecy…… lab A7.

Advance research equipments could be seen everywhere around, and if you ever had a chance to step into that lab, you'll feel like you've just walked into a time machine and into the beautiful future. Lights and mysterious calculations were being done in that facility at that time and right now, the one in charge of the facility was none other than professor Hasting of Ringtown.

Apparently the professor was about to conduct his first length of the research of the Eye of Arceus before he packs it up and ships it to their main facility in the Kanto region. "Is everything ready?" he stated to his fellow scientists. There were a total of three of them in the room. The crystal ball which they were investigating was at the center of the room, within a glass dome surrounded by electronic equipments.

"Yes professor" said the female assistant, "All we need to do now is to wait for the power conduit to run up to the mainframe. If everything goes as planned, the codes that we want will show up on screen"

"Excellent" and just as the professor put back on his glasses, the slide door of the lab opened up revealing Spenser, the Pokemon Ranger leader. "Ahh, Spenser, you're just in time"

"You called for me professor?" the man asked.

"Yes my lad, now put these on" the entire crew then put on protective glasses so that they may have a better view of the object. "How long now?" he asked the assistant.

"About five minutes professor"

"Good!"

Although the professor and his assistants seemed to know what they were doing, Spenser seemed rather clueless on what was really going on. "Excuse me professor, but what is going on? Did you discover something about the Eye of Arceus?"

"Well not exactly" Hasting replied rubbing the edge of his mustache, "It's more of a feeling rather than actual research. You see… when I took the crystal into my microscope yesterday, I discovered some strange codes hidden among it"

"Codes?"

"Yes, like a secret message or something. But part of something much much larger. Whatever message the crystal has, the computer here will record it and then it will be up to me to translate it. However… this is all simply just a hypothesis. We won't know unless we actually do some real digging around that little eye. Once the scanner is activated, all the secrets that the crystal holds will be revealed"

"We're ready professor" the assistant popped in which the professor returned with a nod. "We can start whenever you like"

"Alright…… begin!" and with a pull of a lever a small laser beam fired from one of the machineries directing towards the crystal. As the beam hit, the Eye of Arceus began to reflect all the hidden messages from its surface, sending colorful lights to the glass dome around it. If the scientists did not wear any protective gear at that time, their eyes would've been temporarily blinded for at least two hours or so.

After a few seconds went by, the computer behind them began to decode the message. "Professor, we got it" said the young assistant excitingly as he strummed through the keyboard. "All the information has been transferred. Shall I decode it now?"

"Yes, you may" Hasting nodded followed by a sigh. "Stop the beam…" once the machine stopped, they all quickly removed their protective goggles and move towards the computer. "(sigh) I guess this is just as my hypothesis predicted. I'm afraid this Eye of Arceus is nothing more than a simple object to hold an encrypted message left by the people of old"

"You don't sound happy professor" Spenser noted his obviously bored tone of the great discovery.

"Well I know that this is a discovery of the century my boy, but after what I've dealt with back in my days, this thing is nothing more but a small puzzle left solved. There's no mystery, no excitement is discovering something that has already been found" but just as he was talking, the screen popped in. "Alright, what do we have?"

"One moment professor" the assistant checked through the computer again a few more times and discovered something was amiss. "Eh… that's odd?"

"What is?"

"Part of the data in the crystal is missing sir. I checked the details over and over again but all I got is this…" the screen then immediately turned into a map of a small region. But the odd thing about that map is that it was only half. The other half of the map was missing. "Do you recognize it sir?" There were several red dots on the map which indicated something of interest.

"Hmmm… interesting…" Spenser was glad to finally see some interest coming from the professor. "I haven't seen this map in many years now"

"You know it professor?" Spenser asked to which Hasting nodded back in reply.

"That was the old Sinnoh about five hundred years ago" the professor explained, "I remember having a map like that in back in my house. I won it in an auction back when I was a bit younger. Hmm… most of these lands on the map don't really exist anymore. My my… I guess I was wrong. The Eye of Arceus is more than just a small puzzle. It's actually a small part of an even bigger mystery! Hehehehe… get me my phone. I have to make a few calls"

"Yes professor"

But just as Hasting was about to dial the phone, one of the assistants noticed that something wrong was happening to the Eye of Arceus. "Uh… professor… something's happening to…" before he could finish, another great beam of light emanated from the crystal, blinding them with its brightness. "Ahh!!"

"What in blazes is that?!" due to the sight of horror, Hasting dropped his phone onto the ground and gapped his mouth wide open. Even Spenser couldn't take the light and accidentally tripped over one of the chairs. "What's going on!?"

"Power levels are rising!" the female assistant noted as she put on her protective glasses, "There's energy coming from within the crystal, its going right off the scale! If we don't do anything it'll destroy the entire lab!"

"Put in the electric power conductor. That should buy us some time!" the assistant did what she was asked to do and by the time she activated the device the beam suddenly began feint and dead like. But amidst the sudden silence, a strange ghostly figure stepped out of the darkness looming over the scientist like a beast with its fangs ready to strike. It stood about six times taller than a regular man, its legs were quad based and its most notable aspect was the round ring surrounding its body.

At that very moment all four of the humans were utterly confused, and terrified. They did not know if the beast would sick on them and make them its first meal of the century.

"Hissnoo!" the ghost spoke in a ghastly tone which frightened the professor slightly. "Hissnu narak tola!" and with one loud roar the beast fired something that looked like a hyper beam on the ground.

"Professor, look out!" with his quick reflexes, Spenser leaped in from the sides and grabbed the professor before he became nothing more but earth dust. Luckily the beam was only powerful enough to make a mark on the iron surface.

"Bring him… to me…" and with that final ghostly wale, the visage vanished from sight, never to be seen again by human eyes.

After the chaos finally settled and the fires extinguished, Spenser helped the professor up back on his feet. Amazingly, the lab itself was still intact and the only thing that got blown to bits was the laser device that was in the way of the beast's hyper beam attack. "W… what just happened?" the Pokemon Ranger asked a little shocked from the outburst, but when he turned his attention back to professor Hasting, he noticed that he too was still scared. "Are you alright professor?"

"Yes… thank you Spenser. But what of the crystal?"

"Its fine… but… what was that just now?"

"Wasn't it obvious?" Hasting frowned, "That… was Arceus…"

**(Sinnoh league city mini battle arena) (Waiting room)**

"_Bring him to me…"_ the ghostly voice of Arceus echoed even farther than anyone could ever imagine. Even though no one could hear, the echo of his voice was like that of a dog whistle. Only a select few could hear it.

And sadly… only Ash seemed to be one of those few…

"Huh?" the boy looked around as the unearthly voice pierced through his ear drums like a needle. He twist and turned and jerked his head around, but he could see nothing that could produce that sound.

As all the performers made their grand debut there at the mini arena, the crowd soon began to get somewhat bored of the performance. Kenny and Dawn were lucky to have been one of the beginning rounds because during that time the crowd would still be anxious about the next performers. But Ash and Zoey were not that lucky. To get the last number of the entire contest could only mean that they had to do something stunt worthy or else they could kiss this match an early goodbye.

"Looks like we're up" Ash commented as he tightened the bow on his neck. "Hey Pikachu, why don't you go to Dawn for now and watch me from there? The contest only allows one Pokemon for each so I'm gonna need you on the second round, ok? (Pika!)" the little mouse saluted and quickly dashed off to join the other members of the gang.

"You nervous?" Zoey asked as she saw Pikachu run off to the back stage.

"Nope" was the boy's instant reply, "I've been through a lot of contests and battles before so this shouldn't be any different"

"That's good"

"But still…" Ash added feeling a little disheartened, "After watching all those other coordinators do their performance, it's gonna be hard to top all that"

"Don't worry" Zoey cheered him up, "Like you always say, 'Give it your best' right? We may be the last pair up, but that doesn't mean the show's over. Let's give them a show to remember!"

"Right. Just like we practiced… I even perfected that move on Gliscor" and just as they finished, the curtains opened up revealing them, to the crowd.

"And now ladies and gentlemen, we come to our final pair!" Kitty resumed, "Let's give a warm welcome to… Ash and Zoey! (applause) As you all know, Ash Ketchum is a renowned trainer from Kanto that has taken the Sinnoh region by storm. And his partner Zoey is certainly not a coordinator to mess around. Both of them had participated in the Wallace Cup series, so we all know what they're capable of. But they're gonna have a rough time beating the rest of the competition! So trainers, good luck!"

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Back on the stands, Brock and Nando were also worried about Ash and Zoey being picked as last. "Looks like the two of them will be having a problem" the harpist explained.

"What do you mean?" Brock inquired, "Is being the last to perform a bad thing?"

"Not exactly…" Nando replied frowning a bit, "You see… during a contest, its gonna always be about the audience reaction. When you're asked to perform first, the audience will be more motivated since its only the beginning. And you know that it also affects the reaction of the judges. Ash and Zoey will have to come up with something that they haven't seen before"

"I see… so you're saying that the earlier you perform… the better?"

"Exactly…"

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Back inside the waiting room, Kenny, Dawn and the rest of the coordinators were practically glued to the view screen as Ash and Zoey finally came out to stage. Piplup was sitting on Dawn's lap and Buneary was sitting along with Pikachu on the bench.

"Looks like Ash and Zoey are gonna have a tough round" Kenny began, folding his arms together, "Being picked as the last performers is gonna affect their performance badly. They might not be able to make it to the next round"

"Hey don't talk like that" Dawn raised her voice slightly, which scared Kenny for a moment there, "Ash maybe a wimp sometimes but he sure isn't a loser. I'm sure he'll pull through" and for some strange reason, Dawn began to feel her cheeks heating up. The moment she laid her eyes back to the view screen, her heart began to race up, increasing blood pressure on her body immensely. She did not hate the feeling, in fact she loved it. It made her soul feel comfortable and yet at the same time it made her feel like she wanted to blurt something out. "I know him… he'll do fine…"

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"Gliscor/Shellos, come on out!" immediately two Pokemons appeared into the stage waving out the audience altogether. "Alright, Gliscor, sand attack!" Gliscor quickly let out sand out from nowhere and allowed it to spin around its body.

"And Gliscor starts off with a fantastic sand attack!" Kitty announced as she put on a pair of sun glasses to block the dirt from going into her eyes.

"Zoey, you're up!"

"Right! Shellos, use mud bomb!" the snail Pokemon then unleashed a volley of mud onto the swirling sand, molding the dirt together. "Good! Now use blizzard!" Shellos then used an attack that froze the dirt altogether, making a beautiful array of sparkling lights. But of course, the judges had already seen a lot of lights in this contest. They were going to have to do something unimaginable to impress the judges. "Alright Ash, just a little bit more! Lets heat this up!"

The boy nodded back, "Ok! Gliscor, spin faster! You got to put up some heat!" the flying Pokemon gladly obeyed and began spinning the sand attack even faster. The dust continued to envelop the center of the stage, making it impossible to see Gliscor at all. But just as everyone thought that this was just gonna be another light show, they were proven wrong.

With the heat generated by Gliscor's sand attack, combined with the mud bomb and blizzard, the audience began to see a rainbow pattern emerging from the storm.

"Incredible!" Kitty said eyes widened with amazement. "This is indeed an incredible performance!"

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As Brock watched the performance continue to awe the crowd, his quick analyzing skill kicked in. In just a few minutes he was able to tell what Ash and Zoey had been planning all this time. "I see… so that's how they're doing it" this of course, caught Nando's attention. "By combining with sand attack, mud bomb and blizzard, they can create something like that of a rain cloud. And the faster Gliscor spins around the hotter it becomes"

"And with the combined heat of all those elements can create a perfect and controlled rainbow" Nando finished earning him an impressed look from the other audience members. "I must say that it is indeed beautiful. Those two really out did themselves this time"

"Yeah… those two might actually be a tough rival in the contest"

**(Pokemon Center lounge)**

Professor Oak, the head scientist of Pokemon evolutionary research was sitting in the Pokemon center lounge at the moment after a long ground trip from Celestic town. He and the rest of the scientists that came from other different regions around the world were taking a little coffee break at the lounge waiting for their pickup to finally arrive and take them to PRI headquarters.

But seeing that the pickup vehicle wasn't gonna arrive for another ten minutes or so, the egg heads decided to relax a little so that they could be prepared for the battle that is yet to come. But just as they were continuing on their random research topics, professor Rowan suddenly noticed a familiar figure on the TV who is attracting a few trainers from the sides. "Oh…" he stated while watching the television. "Samuel, come over here" he gestured to the old professor. "You might want to see this"

Samuel came along with his other companions, "What is it Rowan?" the Sinnoh scientist simply gestured towards the TV where the other members of the research committee recognized the face of the boy immediately.

"Hey, isn't that Ash?" professor Birch blurted out, "I almost forgot. I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see him since its almost time for the Sinnoh league"

"This must be the opening contest that I heard about back in the lounge" Ivy added remembering the boy's face pretty well. "But that's odd… I didn't know that Ash was into contests"

"Actually he just does this for fun" professor Oak explained, "Ever since he went through the Hoenn region, he's been joining a lot of contests lately. He is a curious boy after all. Oh that reminds me, I have to give Delia a call as well. She must probably be worried why I left without saying a word"

"Oh you probably just want to hear her voice again" Rowan humored making the old scientist blush. "Really Samuel, you're as obvious as you were back in college hahahaha!" the other professors joined in also in the laugh.

**(Back in the contest)**

When Ash and Zoey finished their performance with a small bang, the audience immediately let out a round of applause for them. The judges themselves thought to be quite impressed by the unfamiliar lightshow given. Even though the two trainers were only limited to a few moves, they were able to utilize their Pokemons abilities to the fullest and pull it altogether to make one spectacular show.

"Incredible" Kitty exhaled, "I have never seen such a spectacular performance in all my life! Let's go to the judges and see what they think"

"A splendid show!" Mr. Goodshow nodded with his hands still clapping together, "This was indeed a perfect combination of both power and strategy. A truly perfect performance!"

"Definitely one of the best indeed" Nurse Joy added giving out a round of applause as well. "This is a true example for both trainer and coordinator to put their combined knowledge of Pokemons together"

"And there you have it folks!" Kitty continued, "Looks like Ash and Zoey rocked the house with a perfect performance! Look at the crowd they're all screaming!" and to her truth, she was right. The crowds were indeed screaming. They were practically chanting their names out loud like they were their biggest fans already.

"Hey thanks a lot everyone" Ash yelled out waving to the crowd. "Thank you!"

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A short while after the first round was done, Ash and Zoey soon returned to the waiting room where Kenny and Dawn greeted them with open arms. "Hey you two!" Dawn began with a dangling open mouth. "You two were awesome! I didn't know that you could use that kind of tactic on stage. You guys will make it to the second round for sure!"

"Thanks Dawn" Zoey said slightly embarrassed, "But I have to admit, I was quite surprised that our technique worked"

"Yeah" Ash agreed with a small sweat drop, "I couldn't tell how long Gliscor could hold on. It was kind of a risky move ahehehehe. But in the end everything worked out"

And just before they could continue their conversation, Kitty suddenly appeared on the view screen with a big announcement. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, we sure had a blast on the first round. Now let's find out which of the teams made it to the second round of the contest. Judges…" she turned to the judges who had just finished inputting the score on their computers. "Alright… it looks like we have a pick…… and now… here they are!" the screen then changed into a small cube, listing the pictures of the competitors. "Ladies and gentlemen, the eight teams that are going to the second round is now out!"

Amazingly, Ash, Zoey, Kenny and Dawn were there too. "Alright!" said one of the other team members on the benches.

"Looks like all of us are in" Ash noted, "And in different sections too. That means there's a chance for us to meet at the finals"

"And that means that some of the competitions here must be competing in the Sinnoh Grand Festival as well" Zoey added crossing her arms. "Hmm… they all look like professional trainers. I don't think any of them will easy"

"Great!" Ash grinned excitingly, "That makes the competition all the more interesting. We wouldn't want to have any easy battles now do we? Who are we battling first?"

"We're paired up in section A so that means we'll be fighting with team 2" Zoey pointed on the view screen. "Looks like we're going to be the first performers out there"

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's get this show on the road!" as Ash moved on towards the stage entrance, the other members quickly let out a sweat drop.

"Heh… I guess he didn't hear about the break time" Kenny said through chukles.

"Well that's Ash for ya" Dawn added. "If it's not about Pokemon or food he won't stop for anything else. I just wonder where he gets all that energy from. He's like ball of fire that never goes out"

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As time flew by like the clouds in the air, Ash and his companions continue to awe the crowd even more with their graceful tactics. One by one, the competition thinned down more and more like a piece of cloth slowly losing its thread. Our heroes knew that their opponents would be no easy battle, but with their hard working experience, they overcame their obstacle like that of a wave over a rock.

But strangely enough, Ash was hoping for a competitive fight than this. Being a trainer as he is now, he was a little more focused on defeating the opponent rather than winning the contest through the usual way, which resulted of him knocking the opponent's Pokemon down.

After an hour had past by, only two teams remained at the final round.

Ash-Zoey

VS

Dawn-Kenny

"And now ladies and gentlemen" Kitty continued her narration, "It has been a terrific contest so far, and as we expected, only the best of the best are allowed to compete in the final round. But as you all know, there can only be one winning team. So without further ado, allow me to introduce to you our last competitors on the blue corner, Dawn and Kenny!!" the crowd went into a small applause and whistle as the two coordinators stepped in.

"Hey how ya doin?" Dawn waved back at the audience. "Thanks a lot"

"And now, on the red corner, another team that is equally matched with the other…… I gladly give you… Ash and Zoey!" again the crowd applauded, but this time only louder than before followed by blow horns and hand made whistles. "Alright then, coordinators, meet up front and shake hands"

Back on the audience stand, Nando and Brock were having a bit of a pickle trying to choose who to cheer for. "Well this is a bit of a pickle" the harpist stated looking a little disheartened, "I simply do not have the heart to cheer for one team over the other. I cannot sit to see one of them lose at all"

"Yeah… me too" Brock nodded in agreement, "Its situations like this just breaks your heart doesn't it" he chuckled slightly. But just as he looked around for the peanut seller, he suddenly noticed a familiar figure sitting a few seats away from him. At first he couldn't recognize the face and the hair, but after a closer look at the clothes, he could immediately tell that it was "Paul?"

The purple haired boy turned his head around and noticed the man who spoke his name. "Huh? Oh… its only you"

"I didn't know you were interested in contests"

"I'm not" he answered almost instantly. "I'm only here to watch someone. That's all" his eyes then focused on Ash, who was happily speaking to Dawn on the battlefield. "Alright Ash… let me see what you really have under your sleeves"

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Back on stage, the two teams prepare themselves for the final combat. "Well… good luck you two Ash smirked. "We won't be holding anything back this time"

"Hey, same here!" Dawn replied smiling. "No hard feelings, right?"

"Right" and with that final nod, the two teams quickly head off to their respective safety zones to begin the match.

"Alright, it looks like that final word says it all" Kitty announced, "Are both teams ready?"

"Ready!" they said in unison.

"Alright then, we'll have a standard 5 minute on the clock! Remember teams, when the timer sounds down that will signal the end of the match. The team with the most points or with a Pokemon standing, wins the match and the 1st Sinnoh stadium ribbon trophy! So without further ado……… BEGIN!"

"Piplup/Prinplup, come on out!" Dawn and Kenny said together and immediately two penguin Pokemons of the same evolution appeared on stage.

"And it looks like Dawn and Kenny choose their penguins for this fight!" Kitty announced.

"Looks like Dawn really isn't gonna hold anything back" Ash smirked proudly at his pupil. "Alright then, I guess I'll go all out too. Pikachu, you're up (Pikachu)" the little mouse quickly dash right into the field sparking some electricity on its cheeks.

"Then I guess I'll have to give this fight everything as well" Zoey nodded in agreement. "Glameow, come on out!" a cat like Pokemon with a curly-spring like tail appeared, purring at its opponents.

With both sides ready and the clock ticking down, Kenny grinned, "Alright, I guess we'll take the first move around here. Prinplup, use…"

"Kenny, wait!" Dawn stopped the boy before he could finish his command. "Pikachu is Ash's strongest Pokemon. We'll never be able to defeat him at a head on attack. Besides, both of our Pokemons are water type so we have a disadvantage in types"

And strangely for some reason, Kenny seemed to see the logic in Dawn's lecture. Pikachu must definitely be Ash's strongest Pokemon, seeing that it was the first Pokemon he ever had. And he knew what that little mouse was capable as well. He experienced it first hand during several battles he had with the boy. "So… what should we do?"

"We're gonna have to think of a plan" Dawn answered, "I know all of Pikachu's moves so I'll battle him. You take on Zoey's Glameow. We have to separate those two as much as possible"

"Right then… Prinplup, use mist!" the larger penguin immediately began disbursing a strange fog around the arena, making it almost impossible to see which Pokemon is which"

"A brilliant move by Kenny!" Kitty said excitingly, "That mist is seriously going to cut their opponents vision. What will Ash and Zoey do now?" many of the audience also believed this to be a wise move. Seeing that Ash had the type advantage, it was only logical that they even the odds by blinding their opponents. But strangely, Brock could've swore that he could see Ash smirking behind his lips.

"They're doing just what we thought they'd do" Ash giggled which Zoey nodded in agreement. "First they'll use mist to make us think that they'll attack from the sides"

"They'll probably gonna try and separate us" Zoey added with a confident smile up her face, "Ash…"

The boy nodded before signaling a command. "Right! Pikachu, iron tail on the ground now!" the little mouse quickly flashed its tail onto the ground, sending a shockwave throughout the field. The wave was so intense and so powerful that it knocked out most of the mist fog away. But that wasn't all, it also revealed where Prinplup and Piplup were hiding. "Alright! Now Zoey!"

"On it! Glameow, shadow ball on Prinplup!" and with a single toss, the bigger Penguin Pokemon was sent out of the ring with a single powerful blast.

"What power!?" Kenny said completely stunned, "Prinplup, counter with metal claw!" but just as Prinplup got a clear shot at Glameow, Pikachu suddenly appeared out of the fog and blocked the attack with an iron tail. "What the?! Where'd Pikachu come from? Prinplup get away!" but it was too late. With both Pikachu's tail and Prinplup's hands locked firmly onto each other, the penguin Pokemon was unable to move at all.

"Great! Now Glameow, quick attack!" again, the cat Pokemon struck, hitting Prinplup right on the side sending it back to its master. "We're no done yet! Glameow, follow it up with shadow claw!" with Prinplup stunned Zoey decided to take the opportunity to strike while they're down.

"Pikachu, follow it up with thunder!" Ash ordered and within seconds, Pikachu let out a beautiful spark of electricity which formed around Glameow's tail, making a trail of lightning on where it went. Not only did it make Glameow

"What a beautiful performance by Ash and Zoey!" Kitty said with glee.

But Dawn wasn't going to let that happen, "Oh no you don't! Piplup, use bubble beam!" the little penguin quickly fired a volley of bubbles at Glameow, but strangely enough the bubbles just seemed to have vanished upon contact. "Huh? What happened?" without any protection whatsoever, Piplup took the hit instead of Prinplup and was sent right back down. "Oh no, Piplup!"

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Back on stage, the crowd seemed to be amazed too. To see one of Piplup's most used technique unaffected was indeed a rare sight to be seen. "That was strange" Nando said confused, "I was sure that the bubble beam would've worked on Glameow, but it looks like it didn't even do a single damage"

"That's because Pikachu's thunder made an electric shield around Glameow" Brock explained, "You see when Glameow used shadow claw, it uses its paws and tail as a conductor, using the electricity as a barrier. I don't think any range attacks would get through that, but I must say that it is indeed a brilliant strategy. Not only does it give better protection to Glameow, but it also makes for a good contest performance. Ash has really stepped up in his tactics" as he take his head up he noticed that Dawn and Kenny's point meter were going down real fast. They were practically half way to defeat.

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"Darn… it looks like they have a solid defense" Kenny muttered before turning to his partner, "Dawn, I think it's time we used our secret weapon"

The girl noted his nervous tone but agreed to it nonetheless. "Alright then… Piplup, use whirlpool and make it a big one!" the little penguin Pokemon quickly conjured up a large whirlpool which stunned the crowd by storm. "Now Piplup, jump in!"

"You too Prinplup! Jump on in and get ready!" with the two water Pokemons surfing in the pool, the point meter in Ash's side began to drop down steadily. But surprisingly, Ash and Zoey didn't seem a bit fazed at all. It was as if they were expecting this kind of maneuver all this time.

"I knew Dawn would use whirlpool sooner or later" Ash smirked as he had a brilliant plan concocted in his head.

"It's probably their last strategy to defeat us" Zoey nodded not feeling a bit nervous at all.

"You keep them busy while I get to the bottom of this"

"Right!" after they both nodded, Zoey perked up her attack, "Glameow, jump in and use iron tail!" the cat Pokemon gladly obeyed its master's command and quickly leaped in to engage the two water Pokemons in the whirlpool.

"Now Prinplup, use metal claw!"

"Piplup, use peck!" surprisingly for Glameow, she soon discovered that she jumped right into a trap of her opponents. They made a whirlpool so that they could engage each their opponents on their own element. And with excellent planning, the two coordinators struck from two sides making a pincer maneuver.

"Glameow, use quick attack and swim in the current!" but sadly, Glameow was not fast enough to dodge both attack at once and got caught with some damage.

"It looks like Glameow is caught inside the whirlpool folks!" Kitty announced, "And we only have two minutes counting on the clock! What could they possibly do next!?"

"Alright Dawn, it looks like we got this one in the bag! Let's take Glameow out first so that we can deal with Pikachu together!"

"Right! Piplup, use bubble beam one more time!"

"Prinplup, you use bubble beam too!"

"Glameow, shadow ball!" the three attacks collided with one another, causing a small explosion at the center of the whirlpool. With the intensity of the fight growing even faster, the crowd soon began to see why these trainers were chosen to compete in the Grand Festival. Their performance was astounding and their strategies were brilliant beyond normal imaginations.

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"It seems like Glameow is in trouble" Nando noted as the battle raged on below. He could hear some of the audience murmuring and a lot more cheering and screaming out. "If this goes on Ash and Zoey will be cornered"

Brock nodded in agreement, "I agree… with Glameow trapped in the whirlpool, Piplup and Prinplup have the advantage since they're both water type Pokemons. They're both excellent surfers and the water current doesn't hinder their attacks at all. But let's wait and see for now. Who knows what surprises they might have for us next?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As the whirlpool battle continued to rage on, Zoey persistently fended off the other team's Pokemons, putting her Glameow to her limits. The moment they launched an attack she would as well. Whenever they moved, she moves against them.

"We're now down to our final minute of the contest!" Kitty continued as she opened up an umbrella to cover herself from the water drops coming from the whirlpool. "But it looks like Kenny and Dawn have taken this show. In just a few moments this match might just end up early!"

"Looks like the whirlpool is about to drop Dawn" Kenny warned. "We'd better get our Pokemons out of there fast"

"Yeah. Piplup, dive in!" the two penguins quickly dove into the whirlpool making it impossible for Glameow to attack. But this of course, was just exactly what Ash had been waiting for. With the whirlpool losing some of its power, it was now safe to send in his Pokemon to deliver the finishing blow.

Seeing the smirk on Ash's face, Zoey knew that it was time to pull out, "Glameow, get out of that whirlpool" the cat Pokemon gladly obeyed and jumped out of harms way. With both sides preparing to launch one last attack Ash decided to finish this one with a backhand dagger.

"Alright, here goes nothing! Pikachu, volt tackle!" and with one order, the electric mouse suddenly appeared from the center of the whirlpool, catching both the audience and the judges off guard.

Kitty of course was also astounded. "Amazing! Pikachu had been waiting in the whirlpool all this time! I was wondering where that little one was"

"And now to give it the final blast! Pikachu, use thunderbolt!" immediately Pikachu surged through its body a total amount of 50000 volts of electricity, electrifying the whirlpool making it a death trap to all water type Pokemons. After a few seconds later, the entire field went dead leaving only a spark left in its place. The crowd and the judges were both anxious to see the result of the match but the smoke that engulfed the stage made it impossible to tell who won the match. But before any of them could say a word, a familiar bell sound rung.

Ting!

"And there goes the bell! The match is over!" Kitty declared waving her microphone around. "It looks like we have ourselves a close match ladies and gentlemen! Who could be our winner of today? Someone bring in the giant fan!" but with every passing second that goes by, two or three of the audiences would stand up from their seat in hopes of getting a clearer picture.

As the smoke finally cleared up the crowd was astonished to find both Piplup and Prinplup on the ground and unconscious.

"Piplup/Prinplup!" the two coordinators said worryingly.

But with both of them down and the score board on the other team's favor, Kitty stood back on stage to declare the winner. "Both Piplup and Prinplup on the blue corner are no longer able to battle! The victory goes to Ash and Zoey in the red corner!" and with that the crowd let out a jubilant cry altogether, making it feel like the whole stadium leaped up a few feet off the ground even though the building itself was nailed down to the ground. "Let's give them all a round of applause!"

"Hey alright we did it! (Pi pikachu!)" Ash cheered with his fist up along with Pikachu. Zoey too was also equally happy and never before did she expect to receive this kind of cheer. She only performed in small and medium sized contest and the applause would just be enough for her ears to take. But now, the cheers had doubled and the whistling added an extra tid bit to the celebration of victory. She didn't hate it, in fact… she loved it. The attention, the roar of the crowd… it was just absolutely… beautiful.

"Hey Zoey" Ash called to her attention, "Come on, don't just stand there. Wave out too" the girl denied it at first since she would never do something so improper, but Ash didn't care so without even warning, he took her hand and held it up like they won the big trophy of the Sinnoh region or something. And of course again, the crowd went into an uproar, screaming and cheering for them again. The whistles, the cheers all came back louder than before and heck she even felt the shockwave of the aftermath.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Brock and Nando themselves couldn't help but give the winners an applause. They never expected to see two sides of their friends to actually duke it out in battle but I guess fate has its own ways of playing tricks on their minds. "That was a splendid show" Nando complimented, "One of the best I've seen so far"

"Yeah" Brock agreed, "And it looks like they all enjoyed it too" but as he turned to where Paul was sitting a few minutes ago, he realized that the boy was already gone. "Huh? Hey… where did Paul go?"

**(Time skip) (5 minutes later)**

When the time of the award ceremony came, Mr. Goodshow himself presented the prize to the winning team with the first annual but unofficial Sinnoh stadium contest ribbon. "Congratulation you two" Mr. Goodshow smiled happily while presenting Ash and Zoey a bouquet of flowers. "You performed very well and you've truly blended the power of both contest and Pokemon battles perfectly. It would be my honor to see you perform again in the Grand Festival"

"Thanks Mr. Goodshow" Zoey nodded as she took the bouquet into her hand and waving it into the crowd.

"And as an added bonus for being the winners, I present you two with these two coupons for an all you can eat at the Resone restaurant. I hope you enjoy"

Ash gladly took the coupon and his ribbon and bowed back to the judge. "Thank you sir…" and after they received their reward, Kenny and Dawn approached them from the stage.

"Hey Ash, Zoey, congratulations" Dawn said smiling, "You guys deserved it"

"Hey thanks Dawn, you guys did great too" Zoey replied, "You guys really put my Glameow to her limits. I didn't even think I was gonna make it out of that whirlpool. But Ash made all those combinations all by himself"

"No kidding" Kenny chuckled, "It's like he was three steps ahead of us. I guess you didn't earn those badges by luck after all"

**(Pokemon center) (Ash's room) (03:00 PM)**

After the gang had left the arena to get themselves a good day's rest, they all assembled at the Pokemon center for a little recuperation. With an exciting battle finally over, it was good for all of them to get a little rest.

"Phew…… I'm beat" said Ash as he laid down on his bed. He was no longer in his tuxedo contest costume since he knew that the collar would eventually choke him to death. "I'm glad that's over. I can't stand wearing that costume for another minute (Pika…)" luckily all of his friends were there too to give celebrate their victory.

"If that's how you feel about wearing a costume for contests, then maybe you should stick to Pokemon battles" Dawn stated chuckling. "I practiced wearing my costume ever since I was a little kid so I got used to it a long time ago"

"That only proves that Pokemon contests are just as hard as Pokemon battles" Brock added as he spoon fed his little Happiny on his lap. "They both have their advantages and disadvantages on both fields"

"But from what I saw back there, it almost felt like I was having a battle more than a contest match" Kenny agreed. "But you guys sure earned that ribbon. Even though it was an unofficial contest, it still proves that you guys beat the lot of us in a fair fight"

"Thanks Kenny, but man… I can't wait for the Sinnoh league to start!" Ash then flung his hand up in the air and grinned excitingly as he waited for the Sinnoh league to begin. "I've been waiting for this competition for so long now and now I have to wait for two more days!"

"Well its probably a good thing" Brock smiled, "That gives you more time to practice and know your opponents. Who knows, you might be facing off some tough opponents this time. It won't be like those times in the Hoenn or Kanto. So don't get careless now"

"Hwy don't worry Brock. I'll do just fine if I keep my head in the game. Besides, if all Pokemons train as hard as they do everyday, I think we'll be just fine"

Brock sighed, "Heh… I don't know if I should call that confidence or just plain Ashness" this of course earned some giggles around the room.

But then Dawn suddenly remembered the prize that the boy had earned in the contest, "Oh yeah Ash. What about that all you can eat coupon that you won from the contest?" the boy quickly remembered and grab his coupon from his back pocket.

"Oh yeah. The dinner is for two only for the winners of the contest. It says here it's an all you can eat at the Resone restaurant………… uh… where's that?"

"Resone is one of the leading restaurants in all of Sinnoh right now" Nando explained, "Its nothing fancy really… but they have a restaurant in every major city of Sinnoh. I'm not surprised to see them have an establishment here in the Sinnoh stadium city"

"Well… the coupon says that it's only good for today. So how about it Zoey?" for some reason, those words made Zoey want to panic, but instead she just turned to the boy. "You wanna go and have a full dinner?" as Ash turned his face onto hers, Zoey felt like her heart just stopped for a second. There were Butterfrees swarming at the put of her stomach and her face felt like it could melt an ice cube within seconds.

"Sure!" came her hesitant reply.

"Great! Since we all worked out so much, I feel like I could eat a whole stadium!"

"Even that won't be enough…" Dawn muttered silently to Zoey which made them both chuckle. It was true. Ash did have something that they would all call a bottomless black hole. His appetite was probably legendary… especially in Kanto.


	7. Date Expectation

**Chapter 7: The Date Expectation**

**(Pokemon Center) (06:25 PM)**

It was an early night in the Sinnoh stadium city. With all the late night clubs and bars opening and the street piling up with party monsters… it only seemed natural that something bad was about to happen. Even though it may be a small crime, that didn't mean that it was going to be forgiven.

But back to the story at hand…

When we last left our heroes, Ash and Zoey were on their way to Rasone restaurant to have their dinner together after their victory at the Grand Festival Opening Contest and with the sun setting on the horizon, they sure weren't going to miss out on this one. Especially with Ash's bottomless stomach…

"Alright, we'll see you guys later ok?" Ash waved off to his friends along with his Pikachu. "Brock, please take care of my Pokemons" apparently the restaurant where they were going only allowed one Pokemon to accompany them per person.

"Hey don't worry" Brock smirked in reply as he held a bunch of Pokeballs in his arms. "You two go have a great time. It's not every day you get to go to a restaurant for free. We'll be right here if you need anything"

"Be careful too" Nando warned, "Nighttimes can be dangerous, especially on dark corners. So don't let your guard down"

"We'll keep that in mind" Zoey chuckled feeling she was being fathered by the guy. Her Glameow purred right beside her leg rubbing its fur against her leather boots. "Besides, we have our Pokemons with us. We'll be fine"

"Hey you can never be too sure" Kenny added, smirking. "Don't come back with a bad stomach now ya here or else we'll have a hard time bringing you back to your room Ash"

"Hehehehe… alright Kenny. Thanks" and with that, they moved on, waving goodbyes to their friends "We'll see you guys in a few hours. Bye. No need to wait for us" and after a few minutes of short farewells, the two trainers disappeared into the next block of the road, looking for the restaurant that they wanted to get in.

"Hmm…" but before the two of them could even reach their destination, Ash was already thinking of what he was going to eat. He was imagining himself on some sort of long table with thousands of dishes pilled together. All he had with him in that day dream was a fork a knife and a very empty stomach. Right after the first drop of drool fell from his mouth he began gobbling down every last chunk of food he could get his hands on. Hell… the gods were probably even wondering if he even knew what he was eating.

After the boy began humming his favorite Pokemon theme, Zoey noted that silly expression on his face. He looked as if his mind was somewhere else. His eyes were chinky, his mouth was drooling and that 

silly look made him look like a mime doing some kind of dance. "Hey Ash" she chuckled at him. "What's wrong with you?"

The boy immediately snapped out of his trance and turned his head back to the girl he was traveling with. "Huh? Oh sorry… I was just thinking on what I was going to eat when I get to the restaurant. I kinda do this every time when we have a meal so it'll remind me that I'm hungry ahehehehe"

"Well you have strategies even when you're not in a Pokemon battle" the red head humored.

"Hey it always pays off when you have a plan" Ash replied along with his little Pikapal. "Oh yeah, I got a question. Do you always keep your Glameow out of its Pokeball?"

"Not all the time" Zoey gestured to her little cat like Pokemon, "Sometimes when I'm traveling around dangerous areas, I like to keep Glameow in a Pokeball. Like the time I was crossing Mt. Coronet and traveling through cave pass. It's been my first Pokemon ever since I started out on my journey. Isn't that right Glameow? (purrr) Teehee…"

"Well sounds like you get along pretty well"

"We sure have" Zoey then carried Glameow onto her arms as support. "Even before I started my journey, I kept Glameow with me as a pet. We've been through so many troubles and adventures together and boy was it fun"

"Well that's great! Because the journey isn't about how fast you get to your destination but HOW you get to your goals. I think you really had a great start for a Pokemon journey"

"How about you Ash?" Zoey turned the question around to the boy, "I've never seen your Pikachu in a Pokeball before even in the contest"

Ash then looked up to his little electric pal who had just shifted its position to his head. "Well Pikachu and I have been through it all. I almost forgot how long we've been traveling together. It only feels like yesterday that I began this journey. Right Pikachu? (Pika pika) But I guess you don't really know how far you've gone unless you look back, right?"

"Hehehe… that's right" Zoey smiled, "So Ash, how does it feel to finally get all eight badges of the Sinnoh region?"

"Great!" the boy stated taking his badge case out. "But it's not the badges that are interesting. It was the gym leaders that gave them to me. Whenever I faced one of them, I always have to change and adapt to a whole new style of battle. Every last one of them specialized in one type of Pokemon which made me change my strategies every time. When I faced Gardenia of Eterna city I had to rely more on speed rather than power to out maneuver her Turtwig. And Folkner's lightning speed was almost impossible for me to take on alone"

"Sounds like it must've been a tough battle"

"It was" Ash answered smirking, "But no matter how strong they are, its only natural that there's someone better somewhere in a corner"

"Hehe… that sounds like something professor Rowan would say" Zoey smiled.

"You know professor Rowan?" Ash said in amazement to which the girl nodded in reply.

"Of course" she answered, "There's not a Pokemon trainer in Sinnoh that doesn't know that name. I've seen many of his lectures on TV and even have some of his books with me when I travel around. He's very popular, especially to some of the senior Pokemon trainers. He may look kind of scary at first but he's actually nice once you get to know him"

"Yeah, Dawn told me that too when she first met him in his lab" Ash laughed. "But enough about that. We should probably get going, we wouldn't want to miss our all you can eat…" but before the boy could finish off his sentence, a burglar alarm suddenly sounded, surprising many of the pedestrians around the block. "Huh? What was that?" when they both turned towards a small jewelry store, they noticed that a thief wearing a Zoro mask was making off with a bag of loot. "Haha! Can't catch me!" the thief laughed as he ran off.

The police were soon on the scene to give chase. "Hey you stop! Stop in the name of the law!" but then to their surprise, the thief suddenly threw out a Pokeball and out came a Wartortle. "Wha?"

"Now Wartortle, use water on them!" the little water Pokemon obeyed and fired an array of water at the police officers, sending them off to the ground. "Hahahahaa! That will teach you that you can never catch: The Masked Raider!" if there was a cornier villain name than that then I probably haven't heard it.

But as the thief made his getaway on a motorcycle, a police cruiser driven by none other than officer Jenny arrived on scene. "Stop him!" she ordered the other officers, "He's heading towards the docks. Block off his escape and corner him!"

"Yes ma'am!"

Ash didn't really wanted to get involve with the authorities or the villain, but he didn't really have much of a choice since the thief was heading in his direction. "W… wha!!" with the thief constantly looking sideways and backwards he was unable to see Ash and eventually bumped onto him, knocking each other to the ground. "Owww… my head…"

"Watch it you fool!" the thief yelled out angrily while grabbing his bag. But in the process of collecting his loot, he accidentally took Ash's badge case and stuff it in his knapsack. "Love to chat, but I got to run!"

"Uh hey! Wait! Those are my badges!" Ash stood up in shock. But without even thinking, he quickly dashed off with his legs, in hopes of getting one of his most prized possessions back. "Come back here!" he demanded angrily. The boy was running so fast that it almost made extreme speed look like slow motion on television.

"Ash, wait!" Zoey tried to stop the boy but she was a little too late for that. He was already long gone before she could even speak up her first word.

After the boy had chased the thief about two or three blocks around the city, the Masked Raider as he called himself began to find Ash a bit of an annoyance. "Darn… that lousy kid is catching up to us" he then turned to his little water Pokemon accomplice to fight back, "Wartortle, use water gun on that brat!"

But Ash saw that one coming, "Oh no you don't! Pikachu, thunderbolt'em!" and with one electrical discharge, the water Pokemon fell to the ground unconscious. "Great work Pikachu! (Pika pika!) Now one more time on that guy!" again the little mouse fired off a bolt of electricity, but the man was more agile than the water Pokemon and was able to avoid the attack.

"Grrr… that brat is a lot stronger than he looks! Looks like I'll have to make a break for it" and by abandoning his Pokemon on the ground, the thief ran away along with the loot that he stole. But Ash wasn't going to stand for that.

"Oh no you don't! Come on Pikachu!" and once again they gave chase.

However……

The Masked Raider didn't really get far in his second attempt of escape. As he constantly kept gloating at the boy behind him, he kept forgetting to look on where he was running to. Before he knew it, he slammed his face onto the hard shell of a Torterra. "Ow…" that was the last thing the thief said, before falling to the ground tired and unconscious with stars going his head.

"(panting) I… got you (panting) now… you… crook (panting)" Ash said panting like a dog that had just been running through the fields. But just as he was about to apprehend the thief, a familiar face suddenly appeared right beside the Torterra.

"What's going on here? Who are…… oh… it's you" it was none other than Paul the archrival of Ash. "What are you doing here?"

"Paul?"

When the purple haired trainer looked at the jewel thief, he could only wonder what might've happened. "What's wrong with him?" and seconds later, the police force arrived to take the burglar away.

"We got you now, you little thief" officer Jenny declared as she cuffed the Masked Raider up. With all these incidents happening at once, it was not surprising to see a small crowd gather up on the area. After the thief was put behind one of the police cruisers, officer Jenny then approach Ash. "Thanks a lot citizen. Your help is greatly appreciated here" Ash was about to reply when the officer suddenly flashed him his badge case. "And… I believe these belong to you"

"My badge!" Ash exclaimed as he held the case back, "Thank you officer Jenny" and just as he put the case back in his knapsack, Zoey caught up panting heavily like a dog that just ran through a marathon.

"Ash!" the red head coordinator exclaimed as she puffed for air, "I… finally (huff) caught up with you" she was sweating all over like a bucket of water was just splashed onto her. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine" the boy replied with a smile, "And I even got my badge back (Pika)"

"That's great, well at least you're not hurt. You really had me worried when you ran off like that"

"Ahehehe… sorry"

But while the rest of them were enjoying the moment, Paul immediately let out a hmph sound to get Ash's attention before leaving the area. "Let's go Torterra" he ordered the giant turtle which he followed without question.

**(Pokemon Center)**

With Ash gone and nothing to entertain themselves with, Dawn, Brock, Nando and Kenny remained idle at the Pokemon center room waiting for something to happen. Nando was playing with his harp in a corner reciting some ancient songs that he learned back when he first practiced with his harp. Brock was busy reading a magazine about Pokemon breeding to even care what was going on. Kenny was also reading a comic book on his corner of the room. Dawn on the other hand was tending to her hair in the mirror.

After a few hours of silence the girl decided to get a little fresh air to warm herself up. "Hey Brock, I'm going out for a moment to get some shopping done. Want anything?"

The boy waved it off in reply, "No thanks. Want me to come with you?" he offered.

"No need, I'm bringing Piplup and Buneary with me. I'm planning to buy them some new accessories for the Grand Festival. The other coordinators said that they have some new stock on new Pokeball cases. It's my duty to keep up with the latest trend"

"What a marvelous idea!" Nando stated standing up from his corner, "Allow me to come with you. I would like to see what they have in store as well. Besides, the street can be very dangerous at this time of night"

"Oh come on now, you're just exaggerating" Dawn chuckled, "This place is perfectly safe besides, I won't be alone. Piplup and Buneary will be with me"

"I think it's a good idea for Nando to go with you" Brock added, "What's the point of traveling if you don't have someone to share the experience with?"

"I agree with Brock's worry" Nando nodded, "A pack of worms will always outsmart one bird"

And so in the end Dawn decided to bring the harpist with her. Seeing that he wasn't going to back down and with good reason the girl thought that it might just be fine for a short distance travel. But just as the two of them arrived at the Pokemon center's lounge, nurse Joy called them from the main reception desk. "Oh excuse me Dawn"

"Hmm?" the girl turned to the nurse's attention. "Oh hey nurse Joy. What can I do for ya?"

"Sorry to disturb you this late at night, but a call came in for Ash Ketchum a few moments ago and I was wondering if you could call him for me"

"I believe you're too late" Nando answered, "Ash went off about an hour ago to eat. Is it important?"

"I'll answer it for you then" Dawn suddenly perked in. "I'm sure they would want a clear explanation anyway" and without even waiting for the nurse's consultation, the girl quickly dashed off towards the phone line area to pick up the line so that she may explain why Ash couldn't answer. "Hello?" she picked up the phone line.

A few moments later, the face of professor Oak appeared on screen, "Oh hello there Dawn" the old man said in slight surprise. Obviously he was probably expecting Ash to answer. "I didn't expect you to answer the phone"

"Hey there professor Oak" Dawn greeted back with a pleasant smile. "Sorry but Ash isn't here right now. He left the Pokemon center a while ago with Zoey and Pikachu. Maybe I could give him a message for you"

"That would wonderful. Thank you Dawn. Please tell him to come by the Pokemon Research Institute tomorrow afternoon. Me and my colleges will be going there to attend a new discovery of ours and I would like to congratulate the boy myself. I haven't heard from him for a long time now"

"Well he is kind of busy with all that training he's been doing right now" Dawn rubbed the back of her head knowing well that Ash had been so busy with training and preparing for the Sinnoh league that he forgot about his own social life. "Anyway, I'll tell him the next time I see him"

"Thank you. I'll leave a message for the guard at the main entrance. Just tell them I sent you and they'll let you in"

Suddenly another voice came in from behind, "Professor, we're waiting for you"

"Oh yes yes, well I think that's my call. I'll see you later Dawn and tell Ash I said hi. See you tomorrow" and with that the screen blackened off.

**(Resone 3 star restaurant)**

The Resone dinner, a restaurant located atop of a hill overlooking the sea which was also conveniently connected to the beach. The diner itself had two floors, the first floor extended to the outdoor of the roof and expanded next to the cliff protected by a strong metal fence. The second floor as well also had a 

balcony in which only VIP members were allowed to dine. The soft spring gaze of the moon and the fresh bone chilling wind was perfect for a date for any member of society.

Luckily for Ash and Zoey, they both happened to be VIPs since they had recently won the contest. After the both of them had settled into the good comfy sofas they quickly opened up their menus to see what the place had to offer.

"Hmm…" Ash of course was not a picky kind of person. He liked what the restaurant had to give and seemed rather hesitant to pick only a few. Back when he was still in Pallet town, his mother always knew what to cook for him and every time he left the table he would always be rubbing his stomach with a satisfied grin. After a short pause of picking, Zoey went on first. "I'll have two of these" she said to the waiter who busily wrote down the order on his notepad. "And one of this"

"An excellent choice madam" the waiter replied with a smile. He was probably around his early 30s with a long mustache as his signature trait. "And what will you be having sir?" he gestured his hand to Ash who still seemed rather indecisive with his order.

He paused for a moment and looked closely at the menu, but seeing that he couldn't tell what the name of many of the dishes he decided to go on the obvious choice. "Umm… I'll just have whatever she's having" he answered finally. The waiter took down the order and politely went away to procure the food.

Zoey however seemed rather surprised at this. It was true that her taste for food was a little exquisite but she didn't know if Ash would like what she wanted, "You sure about that Ash?"

The boy nodded in return, "Yeah. To tell you the truth I've never really been to many restaurants. Usually I would be either having food from the Pokemon center or Brock's cooking ahehehe. So I don't really know what to order" they both let out a soft laugh altogether and continued to enjoy each other's company throughout the night.

Unknown to them however, was that three obvious figures were spying on them from a distance. Disguised as normal waiters and servants were none other than team rocket, a group of pathetic excuse as villains. After they had lost the Eye of Arceus at the train they had managed to track down Ash and his friends from that location and stalked them all the way to here in the very heart of the Sinnoh city stadium.

"Well looky here" Meowth stated as he took a peek at the VIP corner. Usually by now they would've stormed in that place and take Pikachu without a second thought but sadly only the highest ranking waiters were allowed in that area to serve the VIPs. "Its looks like the twerp and that Pikachu are having dinner"

"And with a new twerpette too" James added as he noted Zoey's presence.

"Well it doesn't matter who he's with" Jessie snickered, "Since he only has Pikachu around, we'll just have to go in and capture him like a pee in a pot" but their snicker soon came to an end when the head waiter came up to them, "You three! What do you think you're doing!" they all came to attention and 

faced the oddly mustached man. "Table two at the first floor needs cleaning and order for table sixteen is already waiting! Come on now, chop chop! Get back to work!"

"Yes sir!" Team Rocket said together before dashing off to the work counter.

**(Castle Moore inner keep)**

Shani, the head lieutenant of the knights had rushed back to castle Moore after she had completed her mission at the Orange Islands. When she returned, Moltres, Zaptos and Articuno were all in their hand. Caged and restrained like wild animals, the three legendary beasts of the world were kept under the basement of the castle, never to see freedom in a long… long while.

"Commander" Shani bowed down as she entered the commander's room. "I have returned"

The one she called 'commander' nodded and gestured her to stand. "You've done well Shani" he began, "Now that the three legendaries have been captured, we have prevented Lugia from awakening again"

"It was easy to capture these gods sir. They were no match for the powers of a true Aura Guardian. If all the other god Pokemons are as easy as these three, then I would recommend that we dispatch our forces to capture them sire"

"Gods?" the commander said quizzled, "Hehehe… hahaha… my young apprentice…… you still have much to learn. (pause) These Pokemons that you've captured barely even fits the role of gods. They were merely guards to the beast of the sea. Lugia… is a far more dangerous opponents than these three combined"

"Then why don't we attack the beast while it still sleeps?"

"The ocean is a vast place Shani. Even with all our resources, I doubt we'll be able to find it" the commander then turned his attention back to the table, "But for now… I have another task for you"

"Say it and it will be done"

"The scientists in Sinnoh were far more resourceful than I had imagined" he briefed, "They have decoded the second Eye of Arceus and are now attempting to decipher its last codes. They do not even know that they are looking at their own destruction"

"Do you want me to recover the second eye?" Shani guessed that her mission would be to retrieve the object that she failed to recover in her previous mission at the train.

"Yes, but the location of the eye remains unknown. All that we know that it is being kept here, at the PRI headquarters in the Sinnoh region. The very heart of the facility"

"But the facility is large" Shani noted all the rooms in the area and knew that going in head on would only spell disaster for both her and her knights. "It will take us days just to check out the rooms on all the floors"

"Which is why I am giving you… this" the man slowly then handed over the Eye of Arceus to her. The crystal itself retained its beauty and"From what we can tell, The Eyes of Arceus are somehow linked to one another. If they are close, the other one will point the way. Now hurry. The sooner we have the eyes, the faster we can move on to the final stages of our plans. Our time is nearly running out and mankind itself is facing its last moments altogether"

"I will not fail sir…………… you can count on it" and with one final bow, Shani departed along with her knights towards the Sinnoh region once again to recover the second Eye of Arceus.

**(Rosane restaurant)**

"Emm hmm, now that was a satisfying shopping spree" that was the happy sound of Dawn as she hummed through the streets of the city along with Piplup and Buneary. She was carrying with her about half a dozen bags along with Nando who was trailing behind with some of his purchase as well. "I bought a lot of neat accessories that I've never even seen before. Teehee… joining the Grand Festival does have its own benefits (Pi piplup) (Bun buneary)"

"Well I'm glad you're happy" Nando said with his usual smile, "But don't forget that you need to prepare a good combination as well in the appeal round"

"No need to worry, I already got a perfect combination of my own" Dawn smirked back childishly, "Besides, my Pokemons are ready for anything. Right guys? (Piplup) (Buneary!) See?"

"Hehehe, I guess all that training and traveling must've given you a lot of confidence" Nando submitted. "But remember, overconfidence can be your downfall"

"Yeah, I learned that the hard way" Dawn remembered the time when she was on her losing streak. Her overconfidence got the best of her during that time and it taught her a lesson that she would never forget ever again. But just as the girl was in her train of thoughts, a familiar laugh echoed in her ear like a calling with her name in it. "Huh?" she jerked her head around but couldn't tell where the laugh was coming from. After awhile, she finally looked up and saw Ash dining with Zoey on the Rosane restaurant. "Ash?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Zoey couldn't tell what they were doing or what she was doing but she knew that she didn't want it to stop. When the food arrived on their table, she and Ash began talking about topics that randomly came out of their mouths. From Pokemons to everyday living it didn't matter. They were enjoying their time together and that was all that counted.

After they finished up their old tell tales, Ash began telling some of his adventure stories to her. Though some of them seemed rather far out and unrealistic, his eyes seemed to be saying nothing but the truth. He said something about seeing Mewtwo then after than he began soothsaying that he was the chosen one on some island in the Orange Archipelago. But Zoey didn't mind. As long as the story was interesting she was happy to lend an ear for him.

"_Bring him to me… Zoey…"_

"Huh?" but Zoey's attention was quickly drawn out when the ghostly voiced once again echoed through her head. She could hear it clearly and perfectly like it was focused only onto her and her alone. She starred out the window trying to see what was making that strange voice. And of course, this caught Ash's attention as well. "And of course when we…… hey… Zoey… is something wrong?"

"I thought I heard someone calling me" she replied with her attention starring onto the distant. "It's probably just my imagination" she smiled reassuringly back to Ash to relieve the tension, "Maybe all that training and that contest battle we had earlier must've took a lot out of me ahehehehe"

"Well if you're tired, we can go now if you want" Ash offered, "I'm not really that hungry anyway and like Brock always say: A trainer's health comes before his battle"

"Hehehe… yup… that sounds like him alright" Zoey chuckled a little satisfied, "Why don't we finish up fast then we can head back to the Pokemon center later. I'm sure Brock and Nando wouldn't want us in too late"

"Yeah, I wouldn't want Dawn to worry about us too. She might not look like it, but she worries about me more than she worries about herself sometimes hehehehe"

"Well after you've been traveling together for so long, I'm not surprised that she would be worried. When two people travel together for a long time, it's only natural that you would grow a bond with one another"

"Yeah… I guess" Ash agreed smiling "Hey speaking of friends how are your Pokemons Zoey? Last time I saw Glameow, she was still in her early stages as a contest battler in that contest on TV"

"Yeah, well both of us have been traveling for awhile now. I haven't really noticed how much she's grown until now"

"Hehehe… it happens. I can barely even remember how Pikachu looked when I first got him from professor Oak"

"Even so… he looks pretty powerful to me" Pikachu quickly flexed out his little muscles as a gesture of his own strength but the two trainers only laughed. "Hehehe… oh by the way Ash, what Pokemons will you be using for your first battle tomorrow? (huh?) Oh didn't they tell you? The Pokemon league preliminary match will be starting tomorrow"

"Oh yeah…" he didn't exactly lie. The thought was simply out of his mind at the moment. "It's already tomorrow. I guess that opening contest took longer than I thought. Well it won't matter. I'm definitely starting with Pikachu. He won't let me down no matter what (Pikachu) Right buddy? (Pika!)"

After they had finished their meal, the two trainers decided that they would head back to the Pokemon center to catch some snooze. Besides, Ash big debut was starting tomorrow, and he wouldn't want to be caught dead in his pajamas just because he didn't get enough sleep.

They walked through the city streets, back tracking where they had originally walked to save time. But neither did the two of them know that two of their close friends were spying nearby. Dawn in particular, just happened to drop by the place along with Nando, and for some reason, she suddenly got the urge to spy on Ash.

While Ash and Zoey waited at the road crossing in a small intersection, the blue haired coordinator hid her slender self behind a small billboard on the sidewalk. "Hmph… why is he so happy about?" she muttered silently to herself. "He never laughs like that when we walk around town"

"Um… excuse me Dawn" Nando patted, "I do know that this is the quickest way to the Pokemon center, but why are we hiding from Ash and Zoey?"

"Shhh! Do you want them to hear you?!" she hushed the man and pushed him away with a gentle wave. "Besides, we're not hiding from them, we're just trailing them without them knowing"

"_That's kind of the same thing_" Nando said in his head.

"Come on, stop being a worry wart and follow them"

And of course, the two of them continued to trail Ash and Zoey from the shadows. It wasn't surprising for Ash not to notice them since he barely has any attention span on what he was doing. The longer Dawn followed them through the streets, the more anger and jealously seemed to accumulate through her hands.

Ash was laughing and he was laughing really hard. He was telling stories about his journeys to Zoey in great detail and joy. Heck he was telling several stories that she never even heard about before. During his travels with her, he barely even mentions anything about his journey in the other regions. Brock might mention some of it at times but the details would be rather limited and usually they would be doing something important by then.

After trailing the two of them for about five to seven minutes, Zoey suddenly noticed a little park on their travels. "Hey Ash" she called.

"Huh? What is it Zoey?"

"Why don't we go through the park?" she pointed to the small entrance way. "I think it's a shortcut to the Pokemon center"

"Really? (Pika?)" Ash didn't really know much since this was probably the first time he's been in the Sinnoh stadium city. "How'd you know?"

"Look" she then pointed to the other end of the park where a feint glow of a giant Pokeball which symbolizes all Pokemon centers. "See that? That's the Pokemon center symbol. If you visit as many Pokemon centers as I have, you'll recognize that symbol anywhere"

"Really? Alright then, the faster the better" they then entered the park with smiles on their faces.

"Eh?!" Dawn said in shock with her mouth in a puff, "Going through a park late at night? Suspicious"

"Actually it's only eight o'clock so it really isn't that late yet" Nando added, as he looked at his pocket watch. "Besides, it's only a shortcut (silence) Eh? H… hey wait for me Dawn!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The park that they entered was surprisingly cozy. The trees were breezing with a cool and calming rhythm, the street lamps were lit so it provided them with a guiding light through the park. But just before they could make it to the center of the park, an ice cream stand suddenly caught Ash's attention. The store was already closing in for the night and the store clerk was already packing his stuff in. But that didn't stop Ash from requesting a decent snack. "Excuse me sir"

"Hmm?" the clerk looked back at him with a curious eye, "Sorry kid, we're closing in for the night. Come back tomorrow"

"Oh… that's too bad (Pika)"

"It's alright Ash" Zoey cheered him up, "Tell you what. Why don't I treat you some ice cream when we get back to the Pokemon center? I'm sure Nurse Joy wouldn't mind?"

"Really? Great! Thanks Zoey"

But the whiff of the girl immediately caught the clerk's attention. In a flash of a second, he could tell that the two of them were in some sort of date. Why else would two young kids like them would be walking at a dark park this late at night. "Uh hey, wait a second" he stopped them before flashing out a smile. "Since you two are my last customers for the day, I guess I could spare you my time"

"Really?" Ash's eyes twinkled like the stars.

"Yeah, so what'll ya have? It's on the house"

"Thanks mister! I'll have one chocolate please and one strawberry" the clerk quickly took out two scoops from the cooler and put them on nice clean cones. "Alright here you go. Enjoy"

"Thanks a lot" Ash then ruffled through his pocket to get some money but then the clerk quickly stopped him.

"No need for payment boy, it's on the house" the clerk said with a grin.

"Really?"

"Ya, take it. Besides, I'm probably sure that you have other things to do with your girlfriend here" with the mere mention of girlfriend, both Ash and Zoey flushed out their faces like a pair of red tomatoes.

"Wha wha?!" they said in almost unison. "N… no that's not it!" Ash blurted embarrassingly, "W w w… we're just friends that's all!"

"Y… yeah! Just friends!" Zoey stuttered. "We were just taking a shortcut through the park, that's all!"

Obviously the clerk barely believed them, "Really? Well even if you two aren't going out, you still look like a perfect couple to me" he let out an old man smirk and laughed like a father who was embarrassing his kids, "Oh well. Good luck with your date. Good night" and without even waiting for their reply, he closed up the shop and shut the window curtains down.

"H… hey!" Ash yelled out while banging on the window, "That wasn't funny!"

Over on the other side of the park hiding in the shadow, Nando was chuckling as he watched that humorous scene. "Hmm hmm… well that was a good laugh" he chuckled, "They do look like they're on a date though. If I were him I would also mistake them for girlfriend and boyfriend, right Dawn……………………… Dawn?" but as he looked toward where the girl was, his smiling cheerful face immediately turned into of the picture 'scream'.

The aura Dawn was radiating at that moment was pure and utter anger. She couldn't tell why, but right at that very moment she felt like she really wanted to give that ice cream man a punch on the chin and send him all the way to the farthest reaches of the galaxy. Her fists were clenched, her brows were sharpened and even her Piplup and Buneary seemed slightly terrified of their mistress.

After that incident in the ice cream stand, Ash and Zoey continued their little detour shortcut in silence and flushed. Ever since that ice cream man said that they looked like GFs and BFs they had a hard time just eating their own cones without flashing a look at each other every now and then. Pikachu noticed this and became a little worried about his master as well.

This went on for another few minutes until Ash decided that he could no longer taste his ice cream. With the heat accumulating on his face the cream seemed to melt down before it could go down his throat. So he decided to give it to Pikachu. "Here Pikachu, you can have the rest" much to the little yellow mouse's delight, Pikachu gladly took the cone and began divulging it bite after bite.

Another awkward silence went by and soon later the Pokemon center was in view. But just as the two of them were about to head off towards the exit, Ash suddenly noticed that there was a full moon tonight. "Hey, the moon is out tonight" see… told ya.

"Huh?" Zoey perked up and followed his eyes to the sky.

"It was hard to see with all those clouds and lights in the city, but now that we're in a park we can see the moon clearly from here"

Zoey paused for a moment along with her Glameow and agreed silently. Not only was the moon in its full strength, but it was also very beautiful, like the weather was going according to their mood.

"It kinda reminds me of Pallet town" Ash continued, "Back home, before I go to bed, I usually come out to look at the moon. I don't know why, but every time I look at it, it makes me feel…… sorta small"

"Really? Why's that?"

"Well it is kind of true. If you look at things from the moon's point of view, we're probably like tiny sand moving around in a big ball called earth. It's also kind of hard to believe that's it's already been three years since I left Pallet town on my very first Pokemon journey"

"You've been traveling for three years?" Zoey said in amazement. "I didn't know that. I thought you just started off recently"

"No, I started off a long time ago. Pikachu was my first Pokemon and he's been with me ever since. Right Pikachu? (Pika pika)"

Zoey chuckled, "Well, that explains oh how you know so much about Pokemons from different regions. (dramatic pause) For me… this is still kind of new. Ever since I left home, I've been having this strange feeling every time I reach a new town or a new contest. It's kind of scary but at the same time it's kind of exciting. I've never left the Sinnoh region before and to be honest, I don't know if I'm ready for the outside world"

But Ash could understand her feelings well. Although he was not afraid to tackle the unknown, and meet danger head on, he also remembered that strange sensation of something new coming through the horizon. He smiled back and let out a small chuckle, "Hehe…… well you won't know until you try, right? (Hmm?) When I first left Kanto I also thought that I wouldn't be able to do anything right on my first try. But after awhile, you'll start to grow some confidence on you and move on. I always kept moving forward, never slowing down. As long as you have your goals set up straight, you'll never lose your way"

Zoey was slightly amazed on how a boy like him could say some words of wisdom that actually made sense. But as she repeated in her head a few times, she realized that it somehow didn't fit his personality. "Hehehe…… for some reason, that thing you just said…… hehehehe… it kind of sounds like something from a hero in a movie"

"Ya think?" Ash rubbed his head slightly unnerved. "Well I guess it does sound like (thunk!) YEOW!!" since Ash was constantly looking at the sky, he was unable to see the nailed down trashcan he bumped his foot on. "Oww oww oww! My foot oww that hurts!! Yeoww!!" he began hopping on one foot while gently rubbing his aching one with his hand.

Due to that unexpected timing of that bump during the middle of a semi-serious conversation, Zoey began laughing as well with her arm clutching around her stomach.

"H… hey it's not funny!" Ash barked comedically, but to no avail. Zoey was still laughing and she was laughing so hard that she dropped her ice cream cone to the ground. After awhile, Ash began laughing at his own pain too.

But soon, the laughing died down and both trainers decided to take a little break on a nearby bench before heading towards the Pokemon center. "Hehehe… well that was unexpected" Zoey said through chuckles, "How is your foot?"

"A little sore, but nothing to worry about" Ash then remove his shoe and rubbed his head toe with his hands. "But you have to admit, that was kinda funny" they both laughed again together, not realizing that behind them, Dawn was fuming with jealously and was ready to burst any second.

"D… Dawn?" Nando tried to calm the girl down but the glare in her eyes only gestured that she would do unspeakable horror to the next thing she grabs a hold of.

**(PRI Headquarters)**

Professor Oak, Birch, Elm, Ivy, Rowan and Takamura had just recently entered the research institute not long after the Opening Contest had ended. When they got there, they were immediately greeted by professor Hasting and his three rangers.

"Good evening gentlemen" Hasting said with a smile.

Samuel was the first to shake his hand, "Professor Hasting, it's an honor to see you again. We haven't met since the university"

"Ahh Samuel! Good to meet you again my boy. You're looking as old as ever hehehehe. I'm guessing professor Takamura filled you in on the details of our research"

"Yes, he told us that the Eye of Arceus and all the other artifacts are to be moved to Kanto within this week. I can only imagine that this has something to do with the recent attacks that have been happening around Sinnoh lately?"

"Exactly" Hasting answered stomping his cane stick on the floor, "They attack out of nowhere and their intentions are unclear as well. Takamura have had the same thing happened to him during his excavations in the ruins"

"Yes" Takamura nodded, "Ever since we started excavating the ruins in the mountains, there have been frequent raids happening around the clock. It wasn't anything big at first. A couple of damaged trucks and stolen equipments that are easily replaced, but after we unearth the stone tablet, the attackers have begun striking against us directly"

"Oh my…" Ivy gasped.

"But that wasn't all" the archeologist continued. "A few days before I called professor Rowan, they even attempted to destroy the entire mountain side with explosives. We were lucky that my demolition teams 

were able to find most of the explosives in time, or else we would've had to dig for another three months before we can research about it"

"But who on earth would want to bury the Gororian civilization underneath a mountain of earth?" professor Oak questioned.

"We don't know. All that we know is that they are determined to take the Eye of Arceus no matter what the cost. Oh and we also managed to get this from one of the attackers" he quickly showed the professors a small patch of cloth with a strange symbol that looked like a pigeon flapping its wings on the moon. "This was taken from one of the attackers that tried to steal the Eye of Arceus on the train not long ago"

"Hmm… odd" Ivy said with slight curiosity. "I think I've seen that symbol somewhere before"

"You have?" Spenser raised a quizzled brow.

"Yes, I may be a scientist of Pokemon's natural habitat, but I also study human cultures and ruins during my free time. If I may have that, I think I should be able to get some information about it"

"By all means" Takamura gladly handed over the thin piece of cloth to her and turned his attention back to Hasting.

"Speaking of The Eye of Arceus" Hasting perked up, "I'm quite sure you all would like to look at it. But for now, why don't you all head to your rooms and rest? We can discuss the matters of our research tomorrow morning"

"I second that" professor Elm agreed with a small yawn. "I haven't had a decent sleep since I took a plane from the Johto region (yawn)"

"Hahahaha… still the young lad, aren't you, Elm?" Hasting laughed, "Very well then. Let us leave the lecture we have today for tomorrow. Good day gentlemen"

"Good day professor"

**(Pokemon center)**

Ash and Zoey had returned from the park not long after they had finished their ice cream. As they looked around, Ash noticed that the clock on the wall was telling that it was already eight o'clock. The Nurse Joy who was stationed there on the counter was currently speaking on the phone with another Nurse Joy from another city.

It was not surprising that the place was so deserted at this time seeing that the Sinnoh league actually opens up tomorrow for its preliminary rounds. The trainers were probably all resting up for their big day and if Ash wanted to compete tomorrow, he would have to rest up as well and renergize himself for his heroic debut.

"Well, it looks like everyone is sleeping right now" the boy smirked as he let out a small puff off his stomach.

"I guess it shouldn't be a surprise since the Pokemon league is coming tomorrow" Zoey guessed correctly, "We should rest up too if we want to wake up early. Wouldn't want to miss your first big day huh?"

"Definitely (Pika pika)" Pikachu let out a soft jab in the air which was quickly followed by a cute yawn. "Hehe… I guess Pikachu needs his beauty sleep too. Well, see ya Zoey" and just as he was heading off towards his room, Zoey felt a slight tug happening around her chest like a vital piece of her presence had suddenly been taken away. She could not tell what these feelings were, but the farther Ash went, the more saddened she became.

Her Glameow also noticed this and was quite confused on why she was acting strangely. She tried to pur to get her attention, but all sounds seemed to fall on deaf ears. And with the sudden rush of emotion, she blurted her mouth out before she even thought what came through her mind. "W… wait a minute!"

"Huh?" Ash turned around with a puzzled face, "What is it Zoey?"

The girl's face immediately brightened up as colorful as her hair, _"W… wait a second… why did I call him?"_ she thought embarassingly, "Uh… um well…… g g g… good luck with your match tomorrow"

"Huh? Oh thanks, I'll be doing my best!" and with that, the boy parted ways to his room.

Zoey was about to the same as well, but just as she turned her head around a sudden rumble occurred, catching her attention. "Ahhh!" it was Dawn and Nando. "Dawn? Nando? What are you two doing up so late?"

Dawn quickly recovered on her feet and gave out an obivious fake smile, "Oh sorry ahehehehehe. We were just uh… shopping! Yeah!" behind her, Piplup and Buneary were giving out a mother of all sweat drops. They have never heard such a pathetic excuse like that before, but they guessed that it wasn't a complete lie since they did just came back from the Pokemart anyway. "So… how was dinner?" she asked.

"Oh it was ok" Zoey replied normally, "Ash was kind of sweet though. Anyway, I have to get some shut eye first. I'll see you again tomorrow. Come on Glameow" and without even waiting for a reply, the red head coordinator left the lobby with a quick walk.

Dawn opened up her mouth and tried to reach out to Zoey but she was a little too late. When Zoey was off to the second floor to her room, Dawn let out a frown as she knew that something was really strage. Zoey never walked that fast before and the way she reacted to her question to quickly avoid it was totally bizarre. "Hmmm…" Dawn puffed her face. "Very suspicious…"


	8. Let The Battle Begin!

**Chapter 8: Let The Battle Begin!**

**(Pokemon stadium outer arenas) (01:41 PM)**

Fireworks once again lit the morning air, puffing out sounds of explosion and excitement. People lining on the streets and stands and both trainers and Pokemon are all prepped up for their upcoming Sinnoh league battle.

But none of them was far more excited than our young hero Ash Ketchum. He and his friends had just arrived to the outer arenas where the preliminary rounds were about to take place, but like all plans, they always never go in a straight line.

"Whoa…! (Pi…ka…!)" Ash said in awe as he looked at one of the battles progressing in the fields. Two trainers were battling neck and neck with their Pokemons, not holding anything back. They were pushing themselves beyond their limit like they believed that judgment day was coming tomorrow or something. Each attack was followed by a brilliant strategy countered with an excellent defensive maneuver. They were so into the battle that the only thing they could hear was the sound of their voices and the roar of their Pokemons.

"Steelix, hyper beam!"

"Skunktank, use smokescreen!" the purple skunk Pokemon quickly vanish and at the same time avoiding the hyper beam.

"What the?!"

"Alright, now it's my turn! Skunktank, use flamethrower and finish it off!" with a burst of fire from the poison Pokemon, Steelix fell to the ground, beaten by a creature barely half its size.

"Steelix is no longer able to battle!" the referee declared, "Victory goes to Skunktank!"

A small round of applause was given by several passing trainers and audience, though the win was small, it was a win to remember.

But this kind of entertainment only fueled the fire that was burning in Ash's heart. He was a walking gas tank ready to burst to the next battle. "Ohhhh…… this is awesome! These guys are good! I never thought I'd get to see a battle like this!"

"Well this is the Sinnoh league after all" Brock nodded, "Only the best gets to compete in an event such as this. That battle alone proves that each and every one here are expert trainers"

"It sounds tough" Dawn noted. "But I have to admit, I didn't picture the Sinnoh league to be something like this"

"Oh?" Brock cracked a brow, "Why's that?"

"Well, to be honest, I actually thought the Sinnoh league to have a more serious mood. I imagined trainers with huge muscles all with soldier haircuts" as she continued explaining her thoughts, Brock and Ash couldn't help but imagine that Dawn was thinking something like a military boot camp or summer camp for wrestlers. With just a thought, they immediately gave out major sweat drops. "Hmm? What is it guys?"

"N… nothing" the two of them said in unison.

A few moments later, Zoey suddenly came into view. "Eh?" Ash of course was the first to notice her. "Hey, is that Zoey?" the red head coordinator turned her head to their location after the mention of her name. She smiled and waved at them. "Hey Ash!"

"Hey Zoey" Dawn replied with a small wave even though the girl didn't mention her name. "What are you doing here? I thought you went shopping in the mall with Nando and Kenny"

"I did…" she rubbed the back of her head in reply, "But… I kind of finished my shopping earlier so I asked them to take it back to the Pokemon center for me"

**(On the road near the Pokemon center)**

Nando and Kenny were struggling like they were carrying a giant piano on their hands. They were actually carrying their shopping luggage from the mall. But to be honest, only 000.000000000002 percent of the things they were carrying were theirs and the rest were Zoey's.

"Gackk!! How in the world can one person afford these things?!" Kenny was already popping his sweat glands as he carried half of the stuff on his arms and body. He didn't know what he did to deserve this, but right now he was just glad that he only bought a small keychain as a memento of being in the Sinnoh city stadium.

Nando on the other hand was also sweating buckets but unlike Kenny he wasn't one to complain. "Ahehehe… well… I guess the term 'shop til you drop' goes well in this situation… don't you think?"

**(Back to the arena)**

"Anyway. So this is the Sinnoh league preliminary area huh?" Zoey smiled as she looked at the many trainers all vying for the same prize. "I got to admit, it's a lot different than how I imagined it would be"

"Yeah I thought so too!" Dawn agreed. "I thought that this place would be like a wrestling ring with lots of tough trainers. But I guess first look can be deceiving"

"Hehehe… so when are you going to battle Ash?"

The boy quickly ruffled down his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper with a sign '5-E' imprinted on it. "My battle will be at field E. There's still a battle going on so all I can do now is wait until they call my name"

"That's why we're out here observing some of the trainers from other groups" Brock added, "But I have to say that so far, everyone we've seen are awesome trainers. This might be even more difficult than all the league you've been through combined Ash"

"Hey no problem!" the boy flex his fist, "All we got to do is become better than the other guy, right? Like I always say, just give it our best and keep on winning!" and without even waiting for them to reply, he dash right back off towards the next battlefield to view the next contestant that he might be fighting in the Sinnoh league.

"He makes it sound so easy" Zoey let out a sweat drop along with the others.

"Yeah…" Brock agreed, "I can't really tell if that's his strength or his weakness. But as long as he keep his head cool, he'll be just fine" but then suddenly, a crowd began to gather on the field that Ash was viewing. "Hmm? I wonder what's going on over there"

It was Paul who was on the battlefield. "Hey look, it's Paul" Dawn notified the group.

Apparently, Paul became quite famous in his own way as well. After he had earned his final badge in the Sinnoh region, his method and tactic was renowned to the entire country. His skills earned him the title of rookie of the year and some even thought that he was a natural when in training with Pokemons.

"The battle will now begin!" the referee announced, "Both trainers are only allowed to have one Pokemon each, the one with a Pokemon standing on the field will be the winner. There will be no substitution"

Paul went first "Torterra, stand by for battle!"

Then the other trainer followed, "Flareon, come on out!"

"There's Paul's Torterra again" Ash muttered.

"Yeah" Brock nodded, "I wonder how strong it is after it went through Paul's training"

"But Flareon has the type advantage right?" Dawn questioned, "Fire has power over grass type"

"That's true" Ash agreed, but still his voice didn't seem convincing, "But that only gives the other trainer one advantage. From what we've seen so far, Paul's Torterra can take on any amount of hits without getting beaten or knocked out. Not only that. Torterra also has plenty of moves up its sleeves which gives it a lot of room to make plenty of strategy"

Just as they were about to continue, the referee signaled the trainers to begin. "And…… begin!"

"Flareon, use ember attack!" the small fire Pokemon laid out a volley of fire, but surprisingly, Paul didn't even flinch. It looked as if he was just waiting there like he didn't have a single care in the world.

"Huh? Hey… why isn't Paul moving?" Dawn said quizzled.

Brock hmphed and noted his usual tactic, "I guess he's just trying to get a feel of his opponent's strength. He must be pretty confident about Torterra's natural defense" the ember attack hit Torterra dead on, but the grass Pokemon wasn't a bit hurt by it.

"No way!" the opposing trainer was stunned in disbelief, "I guess we'll have to pack a bigger wallup to bring that guy down. Flareon, fire blast, let's go!" the little fire Pokemon hastily unleash a powerful fire attack which could've incinerated the whole field if left uncontrolled and what was left in its wake was nothing more but smoking ruin. "Yeah! Take that!" but his cheer came to a brief end when he noted that Torterra was still standing on both feet and unscathed. "N… n… no way!"

"Whoa! He's not even hurt!" Zoey said in awe.

"Pathetic" Paul muttered in disappointment and anger before ordering Torterra to counterattack. "Torterra, finish off this weakling with leaf storm!" the giant tree Pokemon lashed out a powerful storm which echoed horror onto the viewer's eyes. Within seconds, Flareon was on the floor, knocked out and badly beaten.

"This battle is over!" the ref declared waving one of his flags, "The victory goes to Torterra!" there were a few applauses coming from the stands since most of the trainers were simply gapping at the end of the battle.

As Paul returned Torterra to its Pokeball, he stopped for a moment to take one glance at Ash who was staring back at him with an even greater desire to win the tournament. Though not a lot of people can see it, but if you look close enough you might be able to see two flames blazing behind those two trainers. Their determination and rivalry was so strong that even Death himself wouldn't dare stand between those two.

"Of all the trainers I've seen Ash battle so far, Paul has been the strongest I've seen" Brock commented, "He's gonna be a tough one to beat"

But Ash only tightened his grip on the safety fence with great anticipation that he would eventually meet that boy head on in the battlefield. "Well… if he's strong then we'll just have to be stronger. Right Pikachu? (Pika pika)"

Just as they were about to leave, a trainer with green hair suddenly came up on the recently used battlefield with a grin printed on his face. "Hmm… yup, this will do nicely" he said to no one in particular. "Alright, I guess I'll use this place as a little training ground then"

"Hey you!" came the referee's voice, "This area is off limits to trainers only. The last battle may have ended, but rules are rules sir"

"Huh? Oh don't worry. I'm not here to battle. I just brought some fresh trainers out for a little field trip" he said in a comical tone, "Can't you bend the rule a little bit?"

"Sorry sir but the rules are rules. There are no excep……" he was immediately cut off when another voice came in.

"That's alright ref, he's with me" a familiar feminine voice echoed behind which gradually took the attention of every trainer on the field.

"Look ma'am, I'm sorry, but the field needs to… to… to…… to……… to…" he was stopped speechless when he realized who he was talking to.

Long golden hair that reach below the knee, a long black coat, a pair deep sharp eyes that can pierce through the souls of the living, and a pair of hair clippers that looked like antlers from a Lucario… yup there was no doubt about it.

It was none other than…

"C… c… c…… Champion Cynthia!?" the referee blurted out like his soul was just sucked out from the gutter.

"Oh hey there Cynthia" the green haired trainer laughed nervously. "How've you been? Long time no see"

"Nice to see you too Aaron" the blonde champ replied with her usual half smile, "But taking over a used field without permission isn't something to be taken lightly. The least you could do was notify the judges before coming here" the referee turned to meet the green haired Elite Four member who was commonly known as Aaron, the bug master Pokemon trainer.

"Hehehehe yeah, maybe I will next time"

But then it wasn't long until the rest of the Elite Four group entered the scene. Immediately the whole gang became the center of attention. Trainers who were free or didn't have anything to do were just starring in awe of the five amazing trainers. (Funny… they're called the Elite Four yet there are five of them. Odd)

"Whoa look, it's the Elite Four"

"No way, the whole gang?"

"That's champion Cynthia, the best trainer in the Sinnoh region!"

And the list of whispers went on to infinity and so forth. Being popular really did have its own advantage. But just as the group was passing through, Cynthia noted a familiar face starring at her from the sides. "Huh?" she quickly recognized the old fashion hat and the Pikachu on the shoulder. She let out a little wink and smiled at him to which Ash noticed.

"Hmm… so those are the Elite Four huh?" Zoey noted their faces in her mind just in case she should encounter them during her adventures. "I heard they were the strongest trainers in the entire region, but only see them on TV and magazines. I never thought I'd actually get to meet them in person"

"Well if you hang out with Ash long enough, you'll get to meet all sorts of people" Brock noted.

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Unknown to our heroes however, was that three strange looking janitors were observing them closely from the sidewalk. "Well well… would you look at that" the talking Meowth gestured to his team towards the group of Elite trainers. "The Elite Four in the flesh"

"The best of the best" James added.

"But also the snobbiest of the snobs" Jessie finished.

Apparently the three of them were in disguise and were constantly following Ash around, waiting for the perfect time to strike and swipe his Pikachu off his shoulder. But so far the boy had been hard to get in touch due to his reputation sticking out like a sore thumb.

"But now that they're here, its going to be even tougher just trying to get close to the twerp" the blue haired villain groaned as he scrubbed the center of the used battlefield, "It was hard enough just trying to get him with just his Pokemons around"

"Not to mention the security too" Meowth gestured to the many security guards that were watching the place intently. "This place is packing with cops. Maybe we should strike later when the coast is clear" but Jessie seemed to refuse to retreat.

"Hold it you wimps" she literally pulled their ears to her side so that she was sure to have their complete attention. "We're Team Rocket, and it doesn't matter how tough the challenge is. As long as we swipe that Pikachu all will be good"

"But how Jess? The last time we tried to take them on, we were blasted halfway across the Sinnoh region"

"And taking that long plane trip really made my back sore" James finished with a groan.

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Just as the Elite Four were finally out of sight, Ash decided to head to his battlefield to see what he was going up against. The recent battle had just finished so he wondered if it was his turn already. "Are you Ash Ketchum?" the manager of the field inquired to which the boy nodded in reply, "Good. Come on, you're next up in line. You'll be fighting your opponent on a one on one battle"

"Alright, it looks like I'm up next" Ash balled his fist in excitement before turning to his little pal who was on his shoulder. "You ready Pikachu, cuz you're up. (Pika!)"

"Hey, wait a minute Ash" Dawn halted, "Shouldn't you check on what your opponent will be choosing first?"

"Hey no need to worry. I always pick Pikachu for my preliminary round. And it doesn't matter what type of Pokemon he throws at me because I know I'm gonna win it for sure!" and without even waiting for a reply, the boy march off to his side of the field to hope the best and prepare for the worst.

"There he goes again" Brock groaned, "I don't really know if being overconfident is his strength or his weakness, but I guess we'll just have to trust Ash on this one"

Once both trainers were on their respective sides of the field, the referee waved his flags up to announce the battle, "The battle on field E will now begin! Each trainer will both choose one Pokemon each. The battle will end when one Pokemon is unable to battle or the opposing trainer surrenders" he then looked on both side to see if both of them were ready. With a nod from Ash and the other trainer, the ref flipped a coin in the air and caught it with his other hand.

Tails…

"The red corner will choose his Pokemon first!"

"Alright then!" Ash's opponent shouted as he threw in his Pokeball. "I bring out… Bastiodon!" a giant Pokemon with a shield like face appeared, letting out a terrifying roar in the process.

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"Whoa, that's one mean looking Pokemon" Dawn muttered worryingly at the sight of the beast in front of her. It was not surprising for her to be frightened by such a monster since she was young and fear could easily creep onto her skin like the wind itself.

"And it's a rock type too" Brock motioned, "Ash will have to choose Buizel for this one to gain at least some advantage"

"I agree" Zoey nodded, "That Pokemon is the pure evolved form of Shieldon and if not mistaken, it must know some pretty powerful moves too" she may look serious on the outside, but unconsciously the girl began to feel a slight tingle happening around her chest. It may be the powerful strength aura that Bastiodon was giving, but somehow she thought it was more than just that. 'Ash… be careful'

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"A Bastiodon huh?" Ash smirked before turning to his friend Pikachu, "Alright Pikachu. Nothing like a little challenge to spice things up (Pika!)" the little mouse quickly took up position on the field which stunned nearly everyone around him. Heck even the opposing trainer seemed rather surprised at this. Everyone knows very well that electric Pokemon like Pikachu stands little chance against a pure rock type like Bastiodon.

But the referee decided to leave it out and get on with the match. "The trainers have chosen their Pokemons! Let the battle………… BEGIN!" and with the blow of the whistle, the two trainers moved in.

"Bastiodon, use stone edge GO!" the rock Pokemon suddenly let out a burst of rock come down at Pikachu, but the little mouse was able to dodge it. "Wha?!"

"Nice one Pikachu! Now let's show him what we can do! Go for a thunderbolt attack!" with the master's order, Pikachu unleashed a powerful electric attack which surprisingly devastated every square inch of the field that it came into contact. Bastiodon, being the large and slow Pokemon as it was, was unable to dodge it, thus taking the hit with full force. But compared to Pikachu, its stamina was way higher.

"Whoa… what power!?" the other trainer said in awe as he watched the thunderbolt attack come to an end, "Then I guess we'll just have to go for a little fight then! Bastiodon, use iron defense!"

But Ash was quicker, "Now Pikachu, use agility followed by a quick attack and then iron tail!" Pikachu then suddenly vanished from sight and reappeared behind Bastiodon, launching several simultaneous attacks at one key point atop of the rock Pokemon. "Alright!"

"What the?! He's too fast!" the trainer panicked, "Bastiodon, use hyper beam on that little thing while it's still in close range!" but the Pokemon was too slow compared to Pikachu and therefore was unable to comply in time. The beam was fired, but Pikachu was already long gone before it managed to even reach. "No way!"

"Now Pikachu, give it another iron tail attack on the sides!" the little yellow mouse complied and quickly smashed its tail onto Bastiodon's rear, sending it a few feet off the ground. Some of the trainer's eyes opened wide like dining plates on a table. To think that a little Pokemon not even half the weight of Bastiodon was able to knock the rock Pokemon off balance with just one powerful hit.

As the battle raged on, the audience began to murmur as Ash's unique abilities peeked in. The few trainers that knew Ash from his fame weren't quite convince of his skills due to his reputation, but as they watch as he beat the living daylights out of the opposing trainer, they all began to have second thoughts about the young boy.

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"Whoa… that Ash kid is really something" Zoey eaves dropped her ear to a small group of trainers who were whispering about the boy's talents.

"I'll give him credit for his skills" came another trainer who was a female, "I guess those rumors in the magazines must be true after all. He really has talent for battling"

"And his Pikachu isn't even taking a single scratch"

Satisfied with their words, Zoey let out a small sigh of relief to herself. She was a little worried that Ash's opponent, thinking that it might be a tough one to start with, but now she let out a smile knowing that this battle was already in the bag.

"Wow…" Dawn said in awe, "That was amazing! I never knew that Pikachu was really that strong!"

"Hmm… Ash sure outdid himself again" Brock grinned, "He knew that Pikachu had a disadvantage in type, but he was actually thinking of speed to make up for it. Bastiodon is way bigger which gives Pikachu plenty of room to fight on"

"I guess all that training really paid off for Ash" Zoey summed it all.

"At last, a view of the great Ash Ketchum himself" came a new voice from center of the group which startled the gang.

"Wha?! Rhonda?" Dawn said the woman's name who was the lead reporter of Sinnoh Now, a TV show that follows all the major events that is or about to happen in the Sinnoh region. She is of course followed by her trusted stage crew of three: Jack, the chubby microphone holder, Becker, the camera man and Joel, the guy who holds the other necessities for a better production. "How did you get here?"

Rhonda snickered, "Hehehe… a news reporter never reveals her secrets. Besides, I have plenty of friends to blackmail in this city so I always get first dibs on every event happening around here tee hee" the gang literally face fault to the woman's selfishness. To think that she would actually use her influence and media power for her own profit.

Brock let out a sweat drop, "Well… I guess that's Rhonda for you. She'll do anything to get the first scoop ahehehe (Pi piplup)" but just as the boy got back up, he suddenly noticed two familiar faces from the other side of the field. He recognized the first one on the left as Paul since he really stands out from the rest of the group and his presence alone sticks out like a sore thumb. "Eh? It's Paul" he muttered silently to a minimum voice which no one could hear him.

However, on the other side of the field, Brock was surprised to actually see the great champion, Cynthia… herself, along with the rest of the Elite Four members. They were standing there altogether with equal smirks on their lips. It almost looked as if they were analyzing the boy's weakness or something.

It wasn't long then until Rhonda's crew members finished assembling the camera and stage equipment to begin filming the battle.

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"Hey… that Ash kid an't half bad" Aaron, the Bug Pokemon Master commented as he watched Ash battle along with his Pikachu. "I guess you were right about him Cynthia. He's really got some skill"

"I agree" Bertha, the ground type Pokemon master nodded as she sipped a cup of tea up her mouth. "I had doubts about that boy you first mentioned him to us Cynthia, but now seeing his skills in person, I see why you've shown interest in him. He reminds me a little bit of you when you first came to the Sinnoh league"

"Really?" Flint, the fire Pokemon master questioned, "He doesn't look that tough. I could probably defeat him in a couple of rounds"

"Now now Flint, like they say: Never judge an opponent at first glance" came Lucian, the psychic Pokemon master who was smiling at Ash's progress. He had to admit that the boy had grown incredibly strong ever since their first meeting. Though they never exactly battled, he could tell by that attitude of his that he had been training with extreme dedication to get this far. "I'm pretty sure the boy is still has plenty of trick up his sleeves"

"Ya think?" the red head trainer said yawiningly, "I only got interested in him because Cynthia was talking about him. Seriosuly, I don't really see what's so special about him. If ya need me, I'll be over there having a drink or two" and without even waiting for a reply, the man was off to do whatever he said he was going to do.

With him out of earshot, Bertha let out a sigh, "My goodness… how he ever made to becoming an Elite Four will be forever a mystery to me. He's such a self centered person with no respect for other trainers"

"Well, I guess that Flint for ya" Aaron sweat dropped, "If it's not about him then he's not interested"

But even with all of the Elite Four talking, Cynthia remained silent as best she could. Her eyes remained focused on the battlefield analyzing every aspect of Ash's technique. From his eyes to his mouth to his hand gestures down to his leg and feet and even to the flow of blood. She was digitizing every millisecond of the boy's actions into information on her brain. She couldn't really explain why, but of all the opponents she fought so far, Ash seemed to be the one she was worried about the most.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Alright Pikachu, let's round this up with a volt tackle! (Pik!!)" with Bastiodon badly wounded from Pikachu's previous attacks, it was only naturally that it began to lose balance of its own weight. Pikachu however was still in firm condition. He had not been touched or hit not even a little scratch. As the little yellow mouse charged up its ultimate attack, the opposing trainer didn't seem like he was going to give up without a fight.

"Bastiodon, use hyper beam one last time!" the rock Pokemon quickly got back on its feet and let out a beam so powerful that it looked like it was the finishing blow of the battle.

"Pikachu, go around and spin!" Pikachu then again used its popular spinning technique which allowed it to dodge straight forward attack like that hyper beam.

"No way!"

"Now Pikachu, let's finish this match off!" and with that last slam by Pikachu's volt tackle, Bastiodon was quickly sent away from the court, landing only a few feet away from its trainer.

"Bastiodon, no!" the trainer tried to get his Pokemon back up on the field, but the swirly eyes proved that it had already reached its limits. "Are you alright buddy?"

"Bastiodon is no longer able to battle!" the referee declared, "Pikachu is the winner and they will now advance to the 2nd round tomorrow!" Brock and the rest of the gang let out a small cheer for Ash as his Pikachu leaped back onto his shoulder. The victory may have been small but it was another victory to go under his belt.

"Alright! We did it Pikachu (Pika pikachu!)" a few seconds later, the boy decided to show his congratulation to his former opponent. "Hey, that was a great battle. You were awesome"

"Not as great as you" the trainer replied shyly, "I couldn't even land a single hit on your Pikachu. I guess this only goes to show that I'm not ready for the big league… yet. Thanks Ash"

"Hey, no prob" with their respects properly given, Ash returned to his friends who were waiting for him at the field entrance.

"Great job Ash!" Brock was the first to congratulate him. "You really outdid yourself again" he gave him a few pats on the back with a slight humor of laughing.

"Yeah, you really showed that guy what you're made of" Dawn came next, "You were way too cool"

"Thanks Dawn" the boy replied slightly embarrassed by his friends compliments. Even though he heard those words plenty of time he could never get used to it. "But my Pikachu deserves most of the credit. I just told him what to do (Pika!)"

"You did great too Pikachu" Dawn petted the little mouse with her hand and gave out a chuckle, "You're a lot stronger than the time we first met. I can hardly believe it's already half a year (Pika pika) Too bad Kenny and Nando couldn't see this. They really don't know what they're missing"

But then the mention of those two gave Ash a clint as well, "Hmm… now that you've mentioned them, where are those two anyway? I thought they'd be here after they went shopping"

**(Pokemon center)**

Kenny and Nando were both lying in separate beds after finally getting Zoey's shopping goods in the girl's room. It took them hours to get the packages in, and by the time they finished, the reserve energy stored in their bodies had already been spent. Right now, all they could think of was getting some shut eye and wonder if they could order a pretty maid to give them a back massage.

"Ugh… I'm exhausted" Kenny groaned exhaustingly as he lazily laid his back on the soft mattress. "I don't think I can move another step"

"That goes for the both of us" Nando agreed also equally tired as Kenny. His back hurt so much that it seemed like it would take a professional masus to ease the pain. (masus are massagers) After groogling on the pillow for a few minutes, the man reached out for the phone to dial in some room service. "Hello… room service? I'd like to order some food for room 207 (my dorm room number)"

"I'll take a burger" Kenny ordered to Nando with a wave of his hand.

**(Back with Ash)**

"Well I guess there are some boys who like to do shopping rather than battling around here" Zoey guessed, not knowing that she was 99.99 percent responsible for their absences. "Hey, why don't we celebrate Ash's first victory later at the Pokemon center tonight? We can have a small dining party at the café there"

"Hey, sounds good to me" Ash agreed wholeheartedly when it comes to food. "A little food for tomorrow's battle will be a great boost"

"Yeah I agree" Brock nodded, "Nothing keeps a trainer and his Pokemons in good shape other than something to fill out their stomachs" but just as the gang were about to leave the battle area, Rhonda the reporter and her crew blocked their path with their heavy equipments.

"Hold it right there!" she demanded, which surprised Ash a little bit.

"Huh? Rhonda?"

"Sorry to bother you Ash, I know that you're busy, but can you do me a tiny little favor?"

Ash was reluctant at first, but he was never one to deny help to others. So with little thought, he agreed, "Uh… sure… ok. What do you want me to do?"

"Stand right there" she gently put Ash on a small empty dirt patch area and place her mic close to his face. After the reporter applied a few touch of makeup on herself, Becker, the cameraman signaled that they were now shooting live. "(3… 2… 1) Hello and welcome everyone to Sinnoh Now! I'm your all star favorite host, Rhonda. As you all know, today is the beginning of the Sinnoh League and trainers from all over the world are competing for the title of champion and the privilege of taking on the Elite Four Challenge. Today with me is none other than the famous Ash Ketchum himself after returning victoriously from the preliminary round" she then signaled the cameraman to focus on Ash so that it would put a much better view for the audience. "So Ash, any reaction on your first victory?"

"Uhh…" obvious as the clouds above the sky, Ash was still inexperienced when facing the camera.

"How did it feel? Was it refreshing?"

"Well… I guess it was just like any other battle" came the boy's hesitant answer.

"I see… so any other comments on the battle?"

"Well… uhh…" and while Ash rubbed his head trying to find the right words for the media, Paul stood a fair distance away from him, shrugging the image of battle that he saw a few minutes ago. Even now more than ever, Paul considered Ash to be a more worthy rival than ever. If only he had known of him sooner, perhaps their fates would've crossed much sooner.

**(A few months ago) (Veilstone city) (Paul's house)**

Paul was taking a short break back at home in Veilstone city after successfully traveling all across the western Sinnoh region. He was preparing to leave for the Eastern part of the country soon as the sun rose to signal the next day. With the sun already setting and the Pokemons quietly having their dinner outside, and Reggie (his brother) cleaning up the table, there was nothing for Paul to do but wait until tomorrow comes up.

Surprisingly, he was no longer wearing his blue jacket which he wore during almost every occasion. He was only wearing his long cargo pants, shoes and sleeveless stripe T-shirt (my sister thinks he looks hot like that).

After he admittedly surrendered to boredom, the boy quickly pulled out the remote from the couch and flipped the TV on to see if there was anything interesting to watch. Sadly there was only a cooking show, news report, weather report, and a bunch of old classic movies which he didn't even have the slightest interest in. He gritted his teeth in slight annoyance and quickly began switching the channels trying to find something that would at least catch his interest. And soon his call was answered when the show Sinnoh Now came in. With that he let out a sigh. At least now he had something to watch.

"Hey Paul, dinner will be ready in a few minutes" Reggie's voice echoed from the kitchen followed by some amazingly delicious aroma. Paul only let out a groan letting him know that he heard him.

But just as he was about to head towards the dining room, a picture of Ash suddenly appeared on screen, catching his attention almost immediately. For a second there he thought that Ash must've won some sort of unofficial contest or some silly Pokemon battle full of weak trainers, but when the reporter began identifying him, Paul let out a curious brow up his head.

"Hmm? What's this?" as the boy read the title of the news in his head, his eye suddenly widened with awe and shock. 'Ash, The New Champ' apparently the TV show was revealing all of Ash's recent activities around the globe since that his name has been appearing over and over again in frequent contest and battles.

After hearing the first few accomplishment the boy had in his earlier days as a trainer, Paul quickly grab the remote and heightened up the volume, drowning all other sounds away. He was so stunned at the boy's list of victories that he just had to know more about him. So he stayed there, watching… and learning… hoping to find some sort of weakness of his new rival.

**(End of flashback)**

With those thoughts coming to past, Paul decided to leave the young prodigy hero to enjoy his small time of fame for now. Sooner or later they will meet on the battlefield and when they do, he was guaranteed not to show him any mercy. And while he walked pass the crowd, he let out a grin so sinister that anyone who saw it could only believe that it was made out of evil intension.

"Yes… you may be the one Ash. The one who can fulfill my wish. Become stronger… and stronger… because I won't be holding back when we finally meet"

**(P.R.I Secure Vault)**

Deep inside a vault secured with all the latest technology made by man, The Eye of Arceus sits still secure, unmoving and untouchable by anyone who does not have the proper authorities. If anyone could see this vault now, it would make the security in the Prime Minister's estate look like a manual lock.

The vault itself was made out of three feet of steel metal with two more layers to act as backup. But breaching the vault itself was not the hard part, it was getting TO the vault that was difficult. Around that vault there was only one kilometer hallway each side filled with hidden cameras. The hall itself was patrolled by mechanized robots armed to the teeth to repel even the most dangerous of Pokemons. And for some miracle you were able to get through all of that you will still have to go through the motion laser detector. If you managed to trigger one, more robots will appear and they will show that intruder no mercy at all.

But even with all that equipments securing the facility, it was still not enough to contain the power hidden inside the Eye of Arceus itself. Unknown to the rest of the world, the jewel that held the future of the world suddenly began to glow and began sending out a powerful vibe throughout the city.

What will happen next…… no one truly knows…


	9. A Blackout Make Out

**Chapter 9: A Blackout Make Out**

**(Pokemon center cafeteria) (04:12 PM)**

"Cheers!" that was the sound of Ash and his friends cheering together followed by a rhythm of glasses chiming together. With everyone posing a happy face, they all gulped down their drinks and let out a satisfying 'ahh' moan together.

It has only been a few hours ever since Ash returned from his preliminary victory at the Sinnoh stadium and after he was given his Number Card by the judges, Dawn recommended that they celebrate so that they could enjoy every moment of that evening together. Thanks to Ash being a contestant of the Sinnoh League he gets to eat for free while the rest of the gang had to order up.

With time passing quite slowly at the moment, the gang passed out several random topics to leave the air friendly and the atmosphere at a temperate level. There were some laughs and some sighs and some groans but the important thing is that they all enjoyed it. Heck, even all their Pokemons were having a blast just sitting down and eating their chows.

"Congratulation on your first victory Ash" Kenny cheered with his juice glass held up high.

"Thanks Kenny, I just hope that all my other battles are as easy as this one" the boy replied slightly flushed. But then soon he realized that there was one person who was missing on the table. "Ah… hey… where's Brock?"

Dawn looked around and realized to the boy's truth that their squinty eyed friend was no where to be seen. "Hey you're right. Where is he anyway? He said he was going to get some pepper from the Pokemart, but it's already been an hour"

"He probably saw a girl pass by and couldn't resist her look" Kenny suggested with a snicker. The gang thought about that hypothesis for a minute and began to think that the possibility of that event happening was extremely high. They could already imagine Brock using his old and usually ineffective catchphrase and pickup lines he heard from movies and dramas shows.

After a moment of uneasy pause, they all agreed to that theory. "Yeah… he easily does get caught when he sees a girl passes by" Ash said a little uneasy.

"Emm hmm, I agree" Dawn nodded and quickly resumed her meal.

But then suddenly a thought popped up in Ash's mind, "Oh yeah that reminds me. The Grand Festival starts up tomorrow right? (nod) So I'm guessing you guys are ready?"

"Definitely!" Dawn gave out a peace sign with a wide smile. "I have my combinations all planned up in here" she gestured to her head. "No need to worry, right?"

"Yeah, that goes without saying for you… Deedee" Kenny snickered which soon earned him a pinch on the cheek. "Yeow!! That hurts!"

"Serves you right for calling me that!"

Seeing that there was something behind that nickname, Ash tried to find out again, "Ahey… Kenny (hmm?) Why do guys call her Deedeeaaaahhh!" he was interrupted when Dawn pulled down his mouth and nose, stretching it beyond bounds.

"ASHH!! Don't you even dare!"

"Arghhh! Ok! Ok! Uncle! Uncle!" by the time she let go, the boy's skin was swollen and red. "Owww…" this earned a laugh from some of the Pokemons who were eating on the other table. "Very funny guys…"

"But I'm worried though" Nando brought in his worried face. "The opponents that we will be facing at the Grand Festival won't be easy. From what I've heard from the stands, some of the more professional coordinators didn't participate in the opening contest. So I suspect they will give it their all when we arrive at the stadium"

"Our battle will probably be early in the morning" Zoey remembered before turning towards Ash, "Oh yeah Ash, what time is your battle tomorrow?"

"My battle stars around the afternoon" was his answer, "Probably after lunch time or something like that. The opening ceremony will probably start in the morning so I'll be able to watch you guys"

"That's great!" Dawn said excitingly which was a little more than Ash expected. This of course made her blush slightly in response, "Ahh… I mean… cool ahehehehe" this earned her a few confused stares from the gang.

But just before the situation became more awkward, Nurse Joy suddenly appeared, "Excuse me Dawn" the gang turned their attention to her almost immediately, "Sorry to disturb you, but you have a phone call from your mother Johanna"

"My mom?"

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A few minutes later, both Ash and Dawn came to the phonebooth to find that one of them had Johanna's face on it. Dawn picked up the receiver, "Hey mom!"

"Hey sweetie, how are you?" Johanna said with almost uncontrollable delight, "Are you eating well?"

"I'm fine mom, we just got back from the Sinnoh stadium" the daughter replied, "Is something wrong? You're not calling all the way out here just to say hi now, are you?"

"Of course not sweetie, I just wanted to tell you that I'm heading to the Sinnoh stadium tomorrow. Professor Rowan called me in for some reports that I might know so he sent me a ticket for the next flight tomorrow to the Sinnoh stadium city"

"That's great mom! You'll actually be here to see me?"

"Definitely! Now sleep early sweetie because you have a big day ahead of you. You wouldn't want to be caught unprepared just because you didn't get enough sleep" it wasn't long then till the mother realized that Ash was hiding in the background, "Oh is that Ash back there?"

"Hey there Johanna" Ash replied. "Good to see you again"

"Good to see you too Ash, I've been seeing you on TV for quite some time now" she giggled, "I guess all that hard work finally paid off huh?"

"Yeah I guess ahehehehe thanks Johanna"

"Oh don't thank me. You deserve it Ash after what I've heard from the news. Anyway, thank you for taking care of Dawn for me. I know that she can be a handful at times but it's nice to know that someone is looking out for her" Dawn's face madly turned crimson red in embarrassment.

"Mom! I can take care of myself. I don't need a babysitter anymore!"

"Oh come on now sweetie. You know I always get worried when you're out there on your own. If Ash and Brock weren't there with you, I think I might just have a heart attack by now. Oh, by the way Ash, congratulation on your victory at the preliminary round. I heard that you're battling again tomorrow correct?"

"Yeah, but it won't happen until tomorrow afternoon so I'll have some time to watch Dawn and the others at the performance"

"Great! It'll be nice to finally get to meet you in person rather than through a phone for a change"

"Oh and I don't think you need to worry about Dawn's performance either" Ash added, patting the girl's shoulder. "From what I can tell, she's worked real hard for today and I'm sure she'll do just fine in the Grand Festival" the moment she touched her skin and flesh, Dawn felt a sharp surge of uneasy pleasure run down her bones. Though she could only feel a small bit of Ash's hand due to his gloves, it still felt unimaginably wonderful. She tried to hide her blush, but her mother's eyes caught everything.

"I see…" Johanna replied with a satisfied grin. After a short pause the mother continued, "Ash, would you be a dear and let me have a word with Dawn for a minute? (Huh?) (Ha?) It's a mother and daughter talk. Pretty please?"

"Uh… sure… ok" the boy replied a little strange since he had never been asked to leave before. But he agreed to it nonetheless, "I'll be with the others at the cafeteria. Just come over there when you're done. I'll be waiting"

"Ok" Dawn nodded. By the time the boy was out of sight and out of earshot, Johanna's face suddenly turned like that of a cat with whiskers as props.

"Hmmm…… Ash really has become a man…" Johanna's face widened as she got closer to the video screen which of course surprised Dawn away.

"W… w… w wh… what do you mean by that?"

"Emm hmmm… well when I first met him on the video screen he looked like another boy you would meet on the road. But not he looks a lot like a true man. Oh if only I was fifteen years younger, I would've gladly go out with him" she then began wiggling her body in a very disturbing way. "Tee hee"

To say the least, Dawn's face paled with the mere mention of her mother dating Ash. She could picture it on her mind, but it just wouldn't be right to imagine such thing. It made her goosebumps grow goosebumps.

"Oh but don't worry dear" Johanna continued, "I won't be stealing your game, seeing that you two are so close to each other"

It was then Dawn got the idea of what her mother was talking about. Again her face began to flush, perhaps even redder than before if that was even possible, "W… w wha!? No! We're just friends! Mom, you got the wrong idea!"

"If you say so" she replied almost too sarcastic, "But you know… feelings like that aren't meant to be kept locked up" she then gave out a 'bleh' sound with her tongue slightly sticking out of her lips"

"Mom!"

"Oh well, that's all I have time for sweetie. Now be a good girl and try not to cause too much trouble for Ash and Brock. They have their own problems to take care of you know"

"MOM!"

"Tee hee hee hee Oh look you're blushing. You look so cute when you're embarrassed. Oh by the way, where is Brock?"

"Oh he's probably out buying some medicine. He should be back any minute now"

**(Outside the Pokemon center)**

"Haaaa" that was the sigh of a certain squinty eyed boy as he was walking through the city streets of the Sinnoh stadium city. He was carrying with him two large sacks of supplies and a large knapsack on his shoulder. Anyone who saw him now would definitely be certain that he just came from a grocery store or something. "Well this should be enough" the boy said to himself, "I can't believe everything in this city is a lot cheaper than all the other places we've been. I might even have enough money to buy some souvenirs for Forrest (his little bro)"

But just he saw the Pokemon center come into view Brock suddenly noticed several strange individuals walking the opposite side of him. "Huh?" there were a total of six of them and they all wore black raven hood which covered their faces except the one at the center who was wearing a brighter color.

At first the boy thought that they were some sort of cultist or some magic act of sort, but when he got close enough to the group, he could feel a strange aura coming around from them. Like they saying 'Keep away or DIE!'

Brock seemed so entranced by their presence that he didn't even noticed Croagunk coming out of its Pokeball to watch the group leave. "Who were they?" he asked to no one particular. "They must be some new entertainment coming into the city. Oh well, I'd better head back before everyone finishes their food. I know how Ash can gobble hehehehe (Croa…) Oh hey there Croagunk. Mind helping me with one of these bags?" but the poison Pokemon simply shifted its head away with a snicker. "Ahe… (sweat drop) I guess… I'll have to take that as a no"

**(Back in the Pokemon center)**

Ash was sitting in the lobby near the reception desk waiting for Dawn to return from that long call from her mother. He didn't really like waiting, but since Johanna told him that she wanted a private talk with her daughter, how could he say no? Thinking about it now, the boy suddenly began to wonder what they could be talking about at this moment. Perhaps some family secrets? Some training tips? Well… whatever it was, he was sure that Dawn wasn't gonna share it with him anytime soon.

"Hmm… Dawn sure is taking her time" the boy muttered out as he compared the clock on his armband to the one on the wall of the lobby. "I wonder what her mom wanted to talk about"

It wasn't long then till he saw Nurse Joy passing by in a rush. "Excuse me, pardon me, thank you, I'm very sorry" apparently she couldn't see where she was going due to the amount of Pokeballs she was carrying on her arms. "Almost there. Chancy can you help me with these please oh no… oh… Oh… OHH!"

Seeing that she was going to fall in a very painful way, Ash leaped in to the rescue and held the nurse by the waist. "Are you ok Nurse Joy?"

It took a moment for the pink haired nurse to compel what was happened but when her eyes focused on her savior, she was practically ecstatic beyond relief. How often do you actually get saved by a celebrity who was just about half her age?

"Y… yes" she said stuttering a little embarrassed, "Thank you" she could feel the boy's grip on her waist and although she wouldn't admit it, his hand felt like that something of a god. Just one touch of her fingers and it almost feel like you were in paradise.

Quickly realizing her folly, Nurse Joy got up and bowed in thank to the boy. "Sorry about that Ash"

"That's ok" the boy returned his trademark smile, "We all fall down once in awhile. But what's with all the Pokeballs?"

"Oh these?" she remembered the large pile of Pokeballs she dropped that were already picked up by Chancy. "They're from the Pokemon center at the east side. Because of the Pokemon league, my cousin had to make room for the oncoming battles for the Grand Festival. Her Pokemon center is a lot closer to that place so she's transferring most of them here for the moment. (sigh) Usually there would always be enough room for the number of Pokemons, but since the city is now holding both the Pokemon league and the Grand Festival, we're not sure if the place will have enough room for all the injured Pokemons"

"I see…" Ash replied looking at the large stack of Pokeballs. He also noticed that Joy seemed to be really tired. Her sweat glands were already on overworked mode and even though she managed to put in a good act, Ash could tell that she hasn't had a decent break for at least thirteen hours or so."Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Oh no, there's no need" Nurse Joy waved her troubles off, "Chancy and I can take it from here. Besides, I'm pretty sure you're busy at the moment"

"Well… I have a friend who's a Pokemon breeder. If you want, I can ask him to help you. He's helped a lot of Nurse Joys here in the Sinnoh region"

"Well…" Nurse Joy had to admit that a little help could come in handy with all those Pokemons that needed treatment and checkups. If she was going to do this solo it might even take her all night… maybe even longer. "I guess… but are you sure your friend will want to help out?"

"If it's with you, I think Brock will be more than happy to help you out"

**A/N: Brock loves all women…**

But just when their conversation was going good, the lights suddenly began to flicker on and off like there was not enough power to sustain all of them. "Huh?" Ash and Nurse Joy looked around nervously and soon their worst fear of the moment came true when the lights sparkled its last spark. "What the? Is there a power outage?"

"This isn't good" Nurse Joy rushed over to her computer which luckily had its own personal source of power. After typing on the keyboard for a few seconds, she let out a sigh that would even make Ash feel depressed. "Well this is trouble" she muttered.

"What's wrong Nurse Joy?"

"There seems to be a power failure in the north wing of the building. This is really strange. There's never been a shortage of power before in the city"

"Don't you have any backup generators around here?"

"We do, but it doesn't seem to be responding to the controls" she continued to type on the keyboard a few more minutes before slamming her hand down on the table. "This is terrible! If the power doesn't come online soon, I won't be able to get any work done" she quickly took out some flashlights and batteries from the cabinet below to shed some light in this darkness. "Chancy…" the pink round Pokemon saluted in response, "I'll head to the power generator and see what I can do to fix it. (Chance chancy)"

"I'll come too" Ash said almost immediately after grabbing his retractable-removable-and--rechargeable flashlight from his Pokemon Ranger armband. "My friend is also near the north wing phone booth. It'll be safer traveling together"

"Right" And with that the heroes took off towards the hallway leading to the north wing of the Pokemon center.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Man… this is not our lucky day" said Pearl, the Pokemon trainer who competed in the Grand Festival opening contest. He was walking along the hallway with his partner Lucas who was equally tired as him.

"Oh come on Pearl, it's not that bad"

"Are you kidding?" the blonde boy returned a smuck. "We got beaten in the contest by kids, I lost my bet with that geek boy Conway and now we're supposed to find our way through the Pokemon center in the dark!? This week is just totally lame"

"Well, we're not exactly coordinators so it's only natural that we lost to professionals. Those kids weren't exactly rookies if you asked me hehehe"

"Yeah… I guess"

"Oh come on now Pearl" Lucas tried to cheer his pal up, "Tell ya what. Why don't we head off to that restaurant downtown and we can eat something real for a change? Besides, we still got the Pokemon league tomorrow, right? If we make it through the first semi final round, we'll be champions for life!"

"Or at least until next year" this made the two of them laugh in unison.

Just as they were about to cross through an intersection, Lucas noticed that there was a shadowy figure standing between them and the back entrance of the Pokemon center. "Ahey… who's that?" it had the shape of a human but his/her face was covered due to the darkness. "Excuse me… are you……" he never even got to finish when the shadow flashed its essence through them, intoxicating both trainers with its smoke.

They both fell to the ground unconscious and paralyzed for the rest of the night…

"_Where… are you…? (sniff sniff) This way… or is it that way?"_

**(Cafeteria)**

"Hmm… looks the power's out" Kenny starred aimlessly at the ceiling stating probably the most obvious.

"But don't Pokemon centers have their own generators? In case of emergencies like this?" Zoey asked.

"Most certainly" Nando answered, "I think the power station must've suffered some minor malfunctions"

"But the restaurant across the street still has its lights on. Maybe one of the conductors broke?"

"That's a possibility. But right now I'm more worried about Ash and Dawn"

This of course perked Kenny's curiosity, "Huh? Why's that?"

"Well after reading this book here…" he gestured to a book entitled 'The Black Mansion' I have to say that the situation is very similar to the story. Two couples walking in the dead of night in a large abandoned house along with their friends. Then… the power went out and a ghost haunts their every step. After they defeat the ghost, the two couples confess their love together. (happy sigh) Ahh… what a touching story… don't you think so?"

"He kinda left most of the details out" Kenny and Zoey thought together looking at Nando's pleasurable expression.

"You really shouldn't compare real life with story books" the red head coordinator chuckled a little nervousness in her voice. "Besides, Ash and Dawn are only good friends. I don't think they'll go that far ahehehe. Right Kenny?"

"Huh? Oh… uh… right" the boy hesitantly agreed. "But uh…"

"Well that what's the book also says as well" Nando added closing the book he was reading. "They were simply friends at the beginning. But after a horrific adventure together, they begin to understand one another and share their deepest darkest of secrets. It's quite a tale really…" he let out a silent comical tear roll down his eyes to set the mood. "Don't you agree?"

**(East entrance of the Pokemon center)**

"Haaa… man… why did I have to take this route?" Brock sighed as he finally admitted that he was lost in the dead east of the Pokemon center. "Of all the time, why did the power have to go off? I can't even see five steps ahead of me and these grocery bags aren't helping me either" he was accompanied by Croagunk, his loyal poison Pokemon since it refused to go back in its Pokeball at the moment.

After the boy wandered even deeper into the building, he began to wonder if he was walking around in circles. "Hmm… I wonder which way we should go now? All these paths look the same to me. What do you think Croagunk?" but the frog creature only puffed its cheeks in response. "You know… you could be a little helpful around here"

But just when Brock was about to call it quits, he saw a human figure walking down the hallway just by the next corner. "Hey, maybe we should ask him for directions. (shouting) Hey! You there! Excuse me for bothering, but can you tell us where the reception desk is?" the figure seemed to turn his face towards him but only for a moment to say a few words.

"_(sniff sniff) Not him…"_

"Huh?" it was obvious that Brock was unable to understand what the man just said but that didn't stopped him from asking again. "H… hey wait a second! Hey!" but when the boy follows the figure through a corner, all that remained there was emptiness and silence. "Huh? Where did he… go?"

**(Pokemon center north emergency exit)**

Just outside the Pokemon center, Ash and Nurse Joy were tending to the power generator hoping to get it back online as soon as possible. But Ash was not only in a hurry because he wanted the electricity back, it was because of the rainclouds that were looming nearby that gave him the chills. He was flashing his flashlight while Nurse Joy did some minor checkup on the grid.

"So Nurse Joy, how is it?"

"I'm not sure" she answered wearily, "The cords are all connected, and nothing seems to be wrong with the conductors. It must be something inside the power generator itself. (sigh) I guess I shouldn't be surprised. We haven't used them for quite awhile now so they must've rusted" the words she said didn't really make sense to Ash but from his POV she seemed to know what she was saying.

"You sure you know what you're doing?"

"Of course! I may be a Pokemon nurse but I'm also a certified engineer!" she said puffing her chest out proudly. "The company are usually busy other things in the city so I fix most of the equipments here in the Pokemon center. A girl has to be self sufficient you know?"

"Ahehe… yeah…"

"But this power generator is quite a puzzle. I'll have to call in an expert on this"

**(Telephone booth area)**

Over on the other side of the Pokemon center, Dawn was flicking on the phone line, hoping to get a signal off. "Hello? Mom?" after the blackout occurred, all the lines seemed to have dropped dead for some strange reason.

After checking for the signal a few more times, Dawn hung up the phone in defeat. "Oh man… what a time for the power to go out" she sighed. "I guess I'll just have to talk to mom tomorrow then. Geeze, why did she have to go and make up such a ridiculous story? Me-liking-Ash? Please. Only a complete idiot would fall for him" she was probably talking about the misunderstanding conversation she had with her mother earlier. The one she was unable to explain properly when the power went out.

As she walked through the dark hallways of the Pokemon center, she continued to garble her dislike about the boy in question, not even realizing that she was insulting herself. "I mean come on. What's to like about him? He's got terrible sense of hygiene, always so overconfident, he sleeps during class during summer school, he's terrible at listening to other people's advice. PLUS! He's always getting us into trouble!"

But her thoughts soon came to a complete halt when she realized some other perspective of the boy. "But………… he's always so caring about his Pokemons, he doesn't yell unless it's necessary, he's always looking out for everyone in the group, and I gotta say that he's a great Pokemon trainer too…" she then slowly drifted away in her thoughts, lost in the pool of Ash's image. "He even taught me how to catch a Pokemon when I first started on this journey and he risked his life more than once to save mine" finally realizing her sudden blabber, Dawn placed an unconscious slap across her face and gasped in her own words.

"Wha!? What am I saying!? He's a total idiot! No one will ever fall for that guy! I bet Zoey even finds him disgusting! Only a complete and total loser would ever wanna go out with him!" she stomped her way through the hallway, not even realizing that she herself was that idiot.

"_You…"_ came a hissing voice from the darkness.

In that moment, Dawn quickly jerk her head around so fast that it was a miracle that it didn't came off. "Huh? Who's there?"

"_You… have his scent… (sniff)"_

"Ash? Is that you over there? (silence) Hey Ash… this isn't funny"

"_Where… is he? Give him to us…"_ the voice suddenly got louder and closer like it was coming directly towards Dawn's ear.

"Eeep! Ash, come out of there right now! Th… there's no use trying to scare me!" silence… was now the response she was receiving. An echo so bone chilling that it would make the howls of the most monstrous creature feel like kittens snarl. There was a breeze in the air… it did not feel natural and Dawn was certainly sure that she didn't want to know what caused it.

When the dark figure finally showed itself, the girl was sure that it wasn't the boy she was looking for…

"EYAHHHHHHH!!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Huh?" Ash was the first to hear the scream. Though the voice seemed to have matched with the rumbling of the storm, it wouldn't be surprised that some people might not hear it. "Was that… Dawn?" and without any hesitation, the boy made a mad dash back into the Pokemon center, forgetting all of his safety once again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

But Ash was not the only one who heard it, back at the cafeteria, Kenny's body was immediately alarmed to the familiar voice of his young childhood friend. He stood from his seat, eyes widened with horror. And yes… his companions seemed to have notice.

"Hey, what's wrong Kenny?" Zoey asked.

But all the boy did was turn his head towards the direction of where he heard the scream and muttered one single name. "Dawn…" and within a blink of a second, he hurled himself forward, like a cheetah hunting its prey.

"Hey Kenny, wait a minute! Where are you going?" but Zoey's question was left unanswered as the boy was already far from hearing distance.

But Nando only let out a sparkling smile in return, "Ahh… now comes the part where the jealous friend of the main character rushes off to save her, only to have his heart turn against his own friends"

"Are you still reading that?!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Huff… huff… huff…!" Dawn was panting like a dog being chased by a T-Rex in the middle of the jungle. When the lightning rumble came through, her fears seemed to have gotten the best of her and she did the only logical thing she could think of. She ran…

She ran as fast as her legs could take her and crisscrossed the intersections in hopes to elude whatever it was that was chasing her. She didn't care if she became lost in the process she just wanted to escape as far away as she possibly could.

After she ran for about twenty kilometers in a time span of only five minutes, she hid inside the janitor's closet, hoping that whatever was out there would not find her here. She waited and listened, only to hear the sound of her breath and the beating of her heart. Both of them were working irregularly and it certainly wasn't going to slow down anytime soon. She was scared, no doubt about it and perhaps even terrified if it weren't for the cold wall on her back.

But before she could recuperate to catch her own breath, she began hearing a rhythm of footsteps coming from the opposite side of the hallway. She gasped her heart and tried to calm herself, but all methods seemed to fail.

As the figure got closer to the room, she began to pray that by some divine miracle that she would make out of this. When the door finally opened, she screamed out in fear, "Ahhh! Please don't eat me! I'm not that tasty!"

"Dawn?" the voice of the person rung a gong in the girl's head. Opening her eyes once more and looking at her savior, she let out a silent tear of relief go through her eyes. "Ash?" she said silently before bursting into tears of joy. "ASH!" Ash was taken by complete surprise when the blue haired girl flung herself from the janitor's room and onto him like a magnet. "Wha?! Dawn, what's the matter with you!?"

This of course only earned him a gentle slam on the shoulder, "I was almost scared to death, that's what! Where were you when I needed you!?"

"Well I was…" he was cut off when a sudden clang of metal echoed from the hallway. Ash pointed his flashlight there, but it was just so dark that the light itself barely showed anything but more darkness. "What was that?"

"Eeep!" Dawn again, latched her arm around Ash and hid behind his back. "It's that monster that was chasing me back in the hallway!"

"Monster?" Ash seemed puzzled by her words but from what he could feel from her shivering she was scared to her pants. (not that she's wearing any pants, mind you) When the boy flashed the flashlight closer, he could finally tell just what the figure was. "Is that… a Mismagius?"

"A Mismagius?" Dawn took another look and soon realized that what was chasing her was none other than a ghost Pokemon.

Relieved of the creature's non-aggressive presence, Ash lowered down his guard and let out a sigh of relief. "Well… I guess you were scared just because of another Pokemon again Dawn. Hehehehe" he chuckled to the girl who only let out an annoying pout.

"Phew… what a relief" she sighed afterward, "For a moment there, I thought I was being chased by a brain eating monster (Misma… gius?) Not that you're a monster ahehehehe. But what's a Pokemon doing all alone out here?"

"It must've gotten lost when the power went out" Ash theorized to which the ghost Pokemon nodded in agreement. "Come on, let's get back to the cafeteria so we can join the others" but just then, a lightning cracked from the clouds, catching all of them off guard. Mismagius heard it first and panicked around like a lost creature. In the midst of it flying around, the Pokemon tackled Ash which in turn tackled Dawn and the two of them fell right into the janitor's closet. "Hey Ahh!"

And with both trainers locked inside, Mismagius flew off, not wanting to stay in the area any longer.

"Owww" Ash rubbed his hand against his throbbing head. "For a ghost Pokemon, it sure knows how to tackle" but suddenly when he focused on what position he was in, the boy's face turned to the color of that of a ripe tomato.

Dawn was on the ground and he was on top of her in a position everyone would misunderstand. Her legs were wide open and he was right dab in the center. The girl was also of course red as a rose. At that very moment, none of them could say a word nor make a single move due to the tight space they were in. Their faces were only inches apart and for some bizarre reason, the cleaning tools began to fall on them, buzzing their attention away from one another. "Oww! Ash, get off me!"

"Ahh! Sorry!" Ash was glad that for the cleaning utensils because he was going to have a hard time getting off the girl. After they put everything back in place Ash decided to leave, less they risk to go into some more misunderstanding situations. "Let's get out of here" he took his hand to the door knob only to find out that it seemed to have been barricaded on the other side. "Huh? What the?"

"What's wrong Ash?"

"The door… it's stuck!"

"What?!"

Due to Mismagius panicked moment, it seemed to have tackled a trash compactor in the way, making it impossible to open the door without removing the object from the specific position.

"Hello!?" Ash tried calling for help hoping that someone might be able to hear him. "Hello, is anyone out there?"

"Hello! Hey anyone?" Dawn tried as well but all attempts seemed to have failed.

**(Pallet town) (Ketchum residence)**

It was raining that night in the little settlement of Pallet town. It was not rare to see rain here in Kanto this time of year. With winter closing in fast and the season's harvest done, the only thing the residence of this town can do is wait for it to past. Many of the town's inhabitants were already asleep that night, but one particular person seemed to be having a hard time sleeping.

"Haa…" that was the sound of Delia letting out a sigh of worry as she starred out the window looking at the rain clouds as they poured heavily against the glass. She was wearing her favorite pink gown PJs and carried on her arm a soft pillow just in case she should want to sleep in the couch or watch television to pass the time.

She was worried about Ash. Though she knows that the boy was more than capable of handling himself and his friends, there was a strange sensation in the air. One that somehow made her worry about the boy's safety. Was he in trouble? Was he hurt? These thoughts alone plagued the mother's mind, causing her envision some of the worst case scenarios in her imagination.

But what got her worried even more was the fact that professor Oak wasn't there to comfort her. Usually when she had this feeling she would immediately relay the message to him so that he would confirm the boy's status. With the professor's reputation and connection throughout the country, he would be able to get Ash's location with just a few phone calls. It was like he had a private army of trackers just waiting for the phone to ring.

But now with the old man nowhere to be found, Delia had to consult her worries with herself. After watching one lightning strike after the next, she decided to shake her fears with other activities. So… alone on the couch, she closed the light and hoped… that her worst nightmares would not come to fruition.

"Ash…" she muttered silently the boy's name, "Please, be safe…"

**(Back in the Sinnoh League Stadium city) (Pokemon center Cafeteria) (07:55 PM)**

"Hmm…" Zoey let out a worrisome sound as she looked to the other end of the hallway that Kenny just ran off to. "Ash and Dawn have been gone for quite awhile now. I wonder if they're ok"

"I'm pretty sure they're fine" Nando stated, pretty much sure that his two friends were not in any way harmed. He was still reading his book with one flashlight on and he was grateful that Brock managed to provide him with one.

Worried about her companions, Zoey decided to go and look for them. "I'm going to look for them. They might be lost somewhere inside the Pokemon center"

"Wonderful!" Nando clasped his hand together in joy, "With this, the cast of the story is now complete (Huh?) I was hoping that you would disagree with me and go off looking for them. You can play as the jealous girl who lives next with the main character. Tee hee, this story is becoming very fascinating, don't you agree?"

"_Is he still reading that thing?"_

"Now let's see here" the harpist began ruffling through the pages trying to find the script. "Aha, here we go. You will go through the same hallway as Kenny did, after that you will get lost somewhere in the middle of the mansion. This will be the part when you get your soul taken away by a ghost. Finally, when that happens you will… wahh!" but Zoey didn't want to listen to his rambling all day so without warning him, the red head pulled the musician by his long collar and dragged him with her. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Just be quiet! You're coming with me to find them!"

"But I'm not supposed to be in the scene until chapter 14!" the other trainers in the area couldn't help but watch as the harpist looked like a kid being dragged by his mother to the dentist or something like that. The Pokemons that belonged to both Ash and Dawn quickly followed suit hoping that nothing bad has befallen their masters.

**(Janitor's closet)**

Bang!

Crash!

Clang! POW!

Ash tried to bash the door with his body in hopes of breaking it down. He would've been able to render the door sockets out, but due to the limited amount of space he couldn't get the estimated amount of strength to push the door down. "Man… this door is a lot harder than it looks"

"What do we do now?" Dawn asked a little afraid of the room she was in.

"I guess all we can do right now is wait until someone passes by" the boy answered, "I guess leaving all of our Pokemons in the cafeteria wasn't such a good idea. If I had Pikachu or Turtwig here, I could easily take this door down" he slammed his hand against the door in annoyance. Thinking that such a simple piece of architect was able to keep the two of them in this place.

"Oh man" Dawn quivered, "This is just like that movie I watched home. Two people gets stuck in a locker and no one ever finds them! EVER!"

Ash let out a mother of all sweat drops as she looked at the comically panicking girl behind him, _"She really needs to stop comparing the real world with movies"_ he thought silently to himself. "Hey now, don't panic. We'll be fine as long as we keep our heads cool"

Dawn turned to him with eyes as watery as puddles. "Really?" she sniffed chibily.

"Hey no need to worry" Ash retracted her usual catch phrase, "Worrying about it now won't exactly help. Let's just sit back and wait until the lights come back. Someone's bound to come by this area sooner or later" the momentary relief allowed Dawn some room to breathe, but she was still nervous about the room they were in.

Seeing the girl's discomfort, Ash decided to do something to ease up the tension. "So… what did you and your mom talked about?" as if the timing could not be worst being stuck together in the room with him, Ash had to remind her of the topic that she wasn't able to explain clearly enough with her mother.

"Ughh… nothing much" she answered a little flushed and annoyed, "Just a little family talk, that's all?" she turned her face towards the wall not wanting to look at the boy.

"Really? About what?"

"It's a family thing! I can't tell you!" she raised her voice slightly.

"Hehehehe"

"What's so funny?"

"Oh sorry" the boy let out smile, "It's just that you kind of reminded me of an old friend of mine, Misty"

"Misty? Oh yeah, isn't she that girl that you and Brock been talking about?"

"Yeah, she's probably in Cerulean city, training with her Pokemons right about now. Hmm… now that you've mentioned it, I haven't called her in awhile"

This of course got Dawn intrigued with the girl's name. "Brock mentioned that you three traveled together for a long time now"

"Yeah, we have" he answered looking at the ceiling, "We had a lot of fun times together. She's actually the first person I met during my travels in Kanto. She also went with me to the Johto region and the Orange Islands. Man… those were the good old days"

"You sound like an old man when you say that" Dawn let out a chuckle.

Ash's sweat dropped, "Ahehehe… yeah I guess. But even though we're apart like this. I kind of get the feeling that she's still with me"

"You two must've really been close"

"Hehehe… you could say that. We went through a lot during our adventures together"

"Really? Tell me"

"It's a long story"

"Well we aren't going anywhere anytime soon"

Ash had to resist the urge of saying 'touché' at the moment. Seeing that Dawn was right and they weren't going anywhere, the boy surrendered and began recalling some of his previous adventures. "Well… I guess I should start with when…" but before he could say another word, a familiar rumbling echoed from the boy's stomach making him blush. "Ughh… thinking about it now. I kind of remembered that I didn't even finish my dinner yet"

Dawn faced fault on the ground almost instantly. She was hoping to know more about Ash, but it seemed like his stomach managed to interfere once again.

But just as Ash rubbed the front of his belly, his eyes came upon the air vent on the ceiling which was just beyond his reach. "Hey! Over there!" he pointed out loudly, "We can get out of here through that air vent"

But Dawn didn't look convinced, "But isn't it a little too small?" she was right. The vent was indeed too small for Ash to go through.

"Not for you" Ash smirked before bending down on his knee. "Come on. If you can get out of here, you can open the door from the other side" Dawn didn't really like the idea, but there really wasn't much of a choice. Either be stuck there with him for the rest of the night or try to get out and find the others.

"Alright, but just this once" she gently placed one of her feet onto Ash's knee and another onto the boy's shoulder. Once she was on top of his she quickly tried to reach out for the ledge of the vent to give herself a stepping stone to grab on. "Just a little more Ash" she panted "I think I can reach it if you give me a little more boost"

"Alright… hold on a second" but the moment he looked up, Dawn instantly remembered that the boy would have clear view of her underwear. Quickly realizing her own faltry, she panicked and bellowed herself down. "Ahh! Hey Dawn, what are you?!"

"Ash, don't you dare look up!" she pulled down her skirt and let out a soft scream before tumbling down again and before they knew it, they were in the same position as they were a few minutes ago. "Oww…"

"My head hurts…" and suddenly, as if on cue or attracted to the sudden clang of bodies, the door of the janitor's closet opened up, revealing the face a slightly surprised Nando. "Huh?"

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

The harpist could not help but stare in silence as he saw his two companions in a very compromising position. His eyes were slightly widened and his mouth was slowly dislocated from his jaw. He stood there for about a minute or so before returning to his previous composure. "Sorry to bother, please continue" he then closed the door.

"Wait! Nando, come back here!"

"Open this door this instance! Nando!"


	10. A Battle Worth Laughing

**Chapter 10: A Battle Worth Laughing**

**(Sinnoh stadium city docking port) (07:03 AM) (The Sinnoh Grand Festival opening)**

Ash and the rest of the gang woke up early that morning to meet up with Dawn's mother who will be arriving in a sea-plane in a matter of minutes. The incident that happened last night was immediately categorized as a misunderstanding and was soon forgotten by Ash and Dawn. At first they thought that Nando was going to spill but soon they realized that the man was so indulged with his book that he thought that it was his imagination getting to him.

After that night, the two trainers agreed to keep that matter a secret and never again to be mentioned in the mortal world less they risk further misunderstanding with the rest of the gang. Breakfast was finished without much interruption or anything out of the ordinary and with that they all went and waited at the docking port where Johanna was supposed to arrive on a sea plane.

"Emm hmm… I love the ocean!" Ash moaned relaxingly while he stretched onto the sky. "The breeze is just perfect, don't you agree Pikachu? (Pika pika!)" the little mouse let out a jab in agreement. "Yeah, nothing beats a perfect breeze with mother nature (Pika)"

The rest of the gang were sitting on the benches having a little snack. They were not as energetic as Ash but they had good reasons to keep their energies to themselves. Dawn, Kenny, Nando and Zoey will be having their contest performance in an hour or so and Brock had to prepare himself for anything just in case a strange and unexpected event should occur which seems to usually happens around the boy he travels with.

"Ash sure like the ocean" Zoey noted the boy's moan.

Brock nodded, "Yeah. I guess when you stay in one place for so long, you actually get used to the nature here"

"Being in tuned with nature is also an important part of being human" Nando added as he pulled out his harp. He began strumming a few notes before letting out a soft satisfying sigh. "It's just like playing music. When you hear the sound of the wind breezing through your ears, the ocean clashing against the earth, it feels like Mother Nature is trying to communicate with us"

"Well I don't really know much about Mother Nature" Ash stated, "But nothing beats being outdoors"

"You can say that again" Dawn agreed. But just as they were having their little picnic, a sea plane suddenly flew by, causing the gang to turn their attention to the sky.

"Hey, is that the one?"

Dawn took a closer look and noticed that at the rear most end of the plane was the face that she could recognize anywhere. "Hey look, that's my mom over there!" the plane landed smoothly onto the surface of the water and was later dragged into port by the dock workers. After plane was stable, the passengers slowly exited the plane.

A few minutes later Johanna noticed her daughter waving at her along with her friends. "Mom, over here!" she yelled out joyfully.

By the time they were together, Johanna gave out a motherly hug to her, tightening her grip around her torso. "Dawn, how are you sweetie? It's so good to see you again. How long has it been? It felt like forever since I last pinched your cute cuddily cheeks"

"Mom! I'm not a baby anymore!"

"Tee hee… sorry sweetie" Johanna broke the hug, "I'm just so glad that you're alright" she then turned her attention to the gang who were idly coming by. "And you must be Ash and Brock. It's great to finally meet you in person rather than on the video phone for a change"

"Same here" Ash let out a smile. "Dawn told us all about you"

"It's an honor to meet you too" Brock added followed by a handshake.

"Well the honor is all mine" Johanna replied a little embarrassed, "Dawn told me lots of things about you guys. Oh… and… Kenny? Is that you?"

"Ahehe… hi there" the boy replied blushing, "It's great to see you again, Mrs. B"

"Oh my goodness, it really is you! Oh look how tall you've grown! The last time I saw you, you were only about this yay high. My goodness, children nowadays they grow up real fast. Hold on, I think I have your mother on speed dial" she quickly picked out her cell phone and dialed a familiar number.

"Uh wait, you don't need to do that! My mom's probably busy with all kinds of stuff right now ahehehehe"

It wasn't long then till Dawn introduced the rest of the gang, "Oh and mom, I'd like to introduce to you my friends. This is Zoey, the one I told you about during the Jubilife contest"

"Oh yes I remember" Johanna let out a squeal, "I've seen you in a lot of contests recently. You were wonderful"

"Why thank you" the red returned the greeting gesture. "I've seen your battles too on TV. It's a pleasure to meet you again"

"And over here is Nando, the battle coordinator that we met in Eterna forest"

"The privilege is all mine" the musician bowed town politely before removing his feathered hat, "Your reputation precedes you Mrs. Berlitz (I think that's her last name) I have witnessed many of your performance many times on the field and to see you in person is an honor beyond words"

"Oh my, such a gentleman you are. Thank you" but then Johanna noted the time on her watch, "Oh but instead of standing around here all day, don't you guys have a Grand Festival to catch up to?"

"Right!" Ash nodded, "We would want to miss your big debuts now. Do we?" and with that they quickly headed off towards the grand festival arena where the coordinators were about to put on a big show.

**(Che'val-yere hotel)**

In a five star hotel deep within the city limit where only the highest and wealthiest tourist ever stay in, Shani and her knights were busy unloading some equipments to prepare for the coming assault on the PRI headquarters. For some reason, they were able to slip into through the city's defenses and disguised themselves as journalists covering for the Grand Festival and the Sinnoh League.

"Lieutenant…" one of the knights in her command entered. Apparently, Shani seemed to have brought with her an all female squad which was well in order since they can all use one room instead of multiple. The price for one night in the hotel was already substantial and their budget wasn't going to cut that's for sure.

"What is it?" the commander of the group immediately closed the curtain just in case someone may be spying on them. They were fortunate enough to get a room in hotel that was near the PRI headquarters. Not only can they easily proceed with their operations, they can also mark the vehicles and people that come in and out of the building.

Shani was no longer dressed in her usual knight armor and cloak. She discarded them and replaced them with a baseball cap, a red T-shirt covered with a blue jacket and a long brown cargo pants. If her superior officers should see her now they could easily mistaken her for a regular teenage girl walking down the streets of the city.

"We've placed the cameras in discreet locations just as you ordered ma'am. We were not trailed"

"Excellent. But as much as I like to finish this mission, I believe we have to pretend who we are a little longer" she gestured to several camera equipment which were stashed on the bed. "We'll have to blend in with the crowd first to avoid suspicion"

"Blend with the crowd?"

"Yes, for the first few days we'll have to pose ourselves as journalists. All other activities are to be postponed until I say so. Understood?"

"Yes ma'am" the knights saluted.

"Any questions?" Shani noted that one of them raised their hands. "Yes, you…"

"But uhh… one question lieutenant: How are we supposed to act like journalists?" a sweat drop seemed to appear from the squad's faces as they too had very little experience in blending in with the normal society. They had spent most of their lives training in swordsmanship and combat rather than social methods. Their fashion alone pretty much stand out from the rest of the world and not to mention the weapons that they carried defined them as fighters, not journalists.

Shani let out a soft cough before posing a confident faces, "Don't worry. I've already studied how to use these equipments. We simply take pictures of trainers and Pokemons and say something about it in papers. One of you will carry the camera, another holds onto the microphones and one of you holds onto this cardboard. **(NOTE: These are TV show equipments, not journalist equipments!)** Here… is a good example" she quickly switched on the television and turned the channel it to Sinnoh Now, where Rhonda was broadcasting the Grand Festival. "Oh… Rhonda's on!"

The six female knights quickly face faulted on the floor when Shani suddenly turned from a serious commanding officer to a child watching her favorite cartoon on TV.

"Ughh… she's been watching Sinnoh Now again, hasn't she?" one of the knights groaned.

"Yeah… it's the only thing she watches on TV anyway" the other knight sighed, "Man… this mission is going to a lot harder than I thought it would be"

"You can say that again…"

"Come and watch everyone!" Shani ordered to which the group immediately came in to see, "Now observe carefully. We're going to observe how journalism is done here!"

"_When it comes to Sinnoh Now, she always takes it too seriously"_ the squad leader thought to herself before turning towards the television.

**(Grand Festival Arena)**

"Hello ladies and gentlemen!" Rhonda greeted in front of the cameraman. "Today is the big day of every coordinator out there as the Sinnoh Grand Festival is just about to begin. I'm your host, Rhonda, broadcasting live in front of the Sinnoh stadium where even now, hundreds of trainers from around the world have gathered to battle it all out for the esteemed title of contest champion… and… the beautiful Sinnoh Grand Festival contest trophy, which will be awarded personally by Mr. Goodshow himself to the winner of this week's contest. Hold on to your horses everyone and let the battle begin! We'll be right back after a few words from our sponsors"

"And……… cut" Becker stated before lowering his camera. "That's a wrap Rhonda. We'll head on in and grab our seats at the booth after the opening ceremony ends"

"Right" the brunette reporter let out a sigh. "Well I guess we can call that a good performance! Nicely done Jack, we managed to have one scene where you didn't hithgaccckkk!!" her words came too soon when the chubby microphone holder accidentally slammed it onto her face.

"Huh? You say something Rhonda?"

"N… never mind…" she groaned angrily as she resisted the urge of throwing the nearby boulder at her crew.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

But with all the excitement happening, one particular group seemed to have already made it inside the stadium.

Ash and the gang were already in the waiting room along with a few dozen other trainers from different regions preparing themselves to give it their all when their number comes up. There were still a few hours left before the first row of coordinators went up and thanks to the extended opening ceremony they had plenty of time to prep up.

"Looks like the opening ceremony is about to start" Brock noted as they showed the event on the High Definition flat-screen TV that the company placed in the room for them to watch, "I wonder if Wallace is here too?"

"You guys nervous?" Ash gestured to his coordinator companions. "It won't be long now till you guys will have to go up on stage"

"Don't worry" Zoey smirked, "We'll be ready when the competition starts"

But then Dawn suddenly noted that someone was missing from the group, "Ahey… where'd Kenny go off to? He was with us a minute ago"

"I think he went to the changing room to get ready" Nando answered pointing towards the changing room. "I believe he is quite nervous about the competition as anyone here is"

"Too nervous if you asked me"

"Everyone has to be nervous once in awhile" Brock gestured, "Well… anyway. I think I'll head off to get us some seats before the row is full. See you guys there"

"Sure thing Brock" Ash waved him off. After he was out of sight, the boy turned his face back to the three coordinators awaiting their numbers to be called up. "So… I guess all I can say from this point is good luck and whatever happens, remember to give it your best!"

"Right" the three of them nodded in unison.

"Because you can't do any better than that, right?" Zoey added to which Ash smirked in reply.

"That's right. So don't feel down when you come back, as long as you give it your all!"

"YEAH!"

A few minutes later, Johanna came by only to hear their cheer ring out like a bunch of teenagers off to a party. "My my my. It seems like you're all fired up for the competition"

"Mom!" Dawn gave out a hug, "Are you going to watch me perform?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world sweetie" Johanna smiled, "But shouldn't you be getting ready? I brought all of your clothes here in the Pokemon center a long time ago"

"Yeah, but I couldn't decide on which one to wear. Back during my other contests I only had about four or five sets of clothes to wear, but now I have so many I can't even think which will look good on me"

"Tee hee… well then… since you can't decide, why don't you wear this instead?" to Dawn's surprise, her mother pulled out a heavy plastic bag from her back and handed it to her. "Back when you were in kindergarten you always said that you wanted to be a princess in a castle. So I thought that you might want to try this on. I made it myself"

"Wow! Really!? Thanks mom! I'll definitely wear it!"

"That's good to hear. But I shouldn't be taking anymore of your time. I'll be cheering you from the stands sweetie. Don't overdo it!" and with that she was gone.

"Hehehe… that's mom alright" Dawn let out a soft sigh. "Always ten steps ahead of everything. Hmm, I wonder how I'll look like in this"

"That's great Dawn" Ash nodded along with his Pikachu, "Now you don't have to worry about what to wear. I'm sure it'll look good on you"

"Thanks Ash" but after the opening ceremony finished up, Kenny soon appeared from the changing room. But to the gang's surprise, he was wearing the suit that wore during the Opening Festival contest. "Hey Kenny… what are you…"

"Hehehe… like it?" the chocolate haired coordinator smirked, "Since Ash wasn't using anymore I thought that I shouldn't let it go to waste"

"Ahehehe… yeah" Zoey let out a sweat drop, "But my friend would want his wedding costume back by today if you don't mind ahehehehe. His wedding anniversary is coming up ahehehe"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In the stands, Brock and Johanna had already taken their seats waiting for the MC to take the stage. As expected of the Grand Festival stadium, there were more than a hundred thousand spectators all viewing not only from the stands but also from the private booths above which were reserved for the high-class citizens only.

"Hmm… I wonder who of the four will be coming out first" Brock motioned as the MC took her position at center stage. "Huh? Hey isn't that…"

"Greetings ladies and gentlemen!" said the girl in very revealing and very sexy cat costume. "And welcome to this year's Sinnoh Grand Festival contest! I'm your host, for today, Kitty!"

"Wow! It's her again!!!" Brock's eyes immediately turned into heart shapes as the lights focused on the MC. "I would so love to be her boyfriend!"

"_Ahehehe… I guess this is what Dawn called a girl's man"_ Johanna thought to herself as she watched the boy glued his eyes onto the MC's face.

"It's wonderful to see some familiar faces today and even more wonderful to see new faces" Kitty let out a squeal, "As you all know by now, coordinators from around the world have gathered for this grand event. I am certain that none of them will be a disappointment to your eyes. And so without further ado: allow me to introduce the judges of this festival. First off we have Mr. Goodshow, the lead sponsor for this event"

"Thank you. I am excited to be here along with all of my friends and comrades" Mr. Goodshow let out his own unique trademark smile.

"And of course we can't forget our one and only, Nurse Joy from Sunnyshore city!"

"It's an honor to be here" the nurse let out a bow.

"And as our special guest for this year's Grand Festival… a trainer who's both skilled in battle and in contest… the one who takes appealing to a whole new level! Let's give a warm welcome to the gym leader from Hearthhome city… Fantina!"

"Thank you thank you! You're all a wonderful audience. Mwah! Mwah! Gracias!" the purple haired trainer let out several air kisses before returning to her seat.

"Thank you Ms. Fantina" Kitty bowed to the audience, "As you all know the trainers that came here today will not only be winning the title of champion, but will also go out with the Grand Festival Ribbon Trophy as a sign of their victory. Coordinators, are you ready? Because it's time to start the contest! Let the battle… BEGIN!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

But unknown to the rest of the world, was that three suspicious hotdog sellers were in the area as well. It was of course none other than Team Rocket. Since all the tickets to the stands were sold out they thought that getting a job in the area was just as good.

Jesse was gritting her teeth on her clothes angrily since she wasn't able to participate due to her lack of contest ribbons. She only had about three but in which the Grand Festival requiring five or more. "Grr… I can't believe I couldn't get accepted in the Grand Festival! This is just so irritating!"

"Well it can't be helped Jessie" James stated, "Since you didn't get enough ribbons, the judges can't allow you to participate in this event"

"Since when did you started learning politics! GRRRR!!"

"Hey, can I have a soda can over here?" a member of the audience waved his hand up to which Jessie complied violently. "Yeow!!" she literally tossed him a soda can followed by a hotdog sandwich followed by another barrage of drinks.

"GAHHH!!"

"(sigh) Talk about a rampage" James sighed at his companions childish behavior.

"Oh don't worry about it James" Meowth comforted his little blue haired friend, "Jessie's just going through her mid life crisis as an adult. She'll be back to her old self in no time"

"I can't believe I couldn't get into the competition! This is unjust! How dare they argghhhhh!!! %$###$^%$"

But as they took another look at the girl, the two compandres turned to each other and had a different opinion on her. "You know what… I think this is just the way she is"

"Yeah I agree, she hasn't changed at all"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

After the signal was given by the MC, Dawn and the other coordinators quickly changed into their costumes to prepare for the big performance. Nando was still wearing his usual wanderer outfit which pretty much matched his style anyway. Kenny of course was in the white wedding tux.

"Looks like its starting" Ash noted as the curtains opened up. But he was more worried about the girls. He knew that Dawn likes to take her time applying all kinds of makeup on herself, but with the show already starting, he was hoping to see her ready by now. "I wonder what's taking Dawn so long. She should've been ready ten minutes ago"

Kenny let out a chuckle, "Hehe… don't worry Ash. If she came out now, it'll probably be a new record. My mom takes hours just trying to choose what to wear for the prom hehehehe"

"Really?"

"Trust me… I've known Dawn since she was in kindergarten. If she hasn't changed then we're gonna have to wait just a little bit longer" they both let out a laugh together.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hachoo!"

"Are you alright Dawn?" Zoey noted her friend's sudden sneeze.

"Oh it's nothing" she replied, "It must've been the air around here ahehehe" but then she noted that Zoey was wearing something completely different. Usually she would wear her light green tuxedo for one such performance as this, but what she wore now was completely… not Zoey-ish! She was wearing a long thick gray leather hat, a thick brown coat which almost looked like four layers of jacket, a matching colored scarf around her neck and brown leather boots that reached up to her knees. (Imagine a Russian female fashionable winter wear) "Wow Zoey, you look amazing!"

"Really?" the red head twirled around a bit to see if nothing was left unbuttoned or unzipped. "Yeah, I kind of decided to wear something different today. My old suit was getting old real fast"

"But I never imagined I'd actually get to see you wear something like this" Dawn had to resist the urge of saying that it made her look more girlier than usual since it actually did. When she first saw Zoey she kind of thought that she was sort of a tomboy who acted like no one can boss her around. But looking at her now, she actually seemed kind of fragile and approachable. "Ah hey… why don't we put some makeup on you?"

"Oh no thanks, I'd rather keep my face the way it is"

Dawn sulked slightly and sighed, "Oh… I guess it really was too good to be true" she wondered how cute Zoey would look if she actually applied some powder on her face.

After they were done, they immediately exited the changing room, only to notice that several eyes were gesturing on them.

"Hey there guys" Dawn greeted to her friends.

"Oh hey" Kenny mumbled, "It took you long enough Da… D… Daw…" but when he jerked his head around his words quickly frozen inside his throat as he did not know how to change them. Dawn was gorgeous, that much he was willing admit in his head. She was no longer wearing her usual pink or blue dresses. Instead, she was wearing something that everyone would agree that it was made purely for the nobles or royalties.

She was wearing a multi-colored dress that pretty much covered her upper and lower body. Her collar was shaped like a flower tulip and it ended right onto her shoulders, revealing her smooth pale arms. She wore a pair of white gloves which were also sown with flowers and leaf petals. If anyone should look at her now, might actually believe that she really was a princess. The colors and radiance that the dress emitted was so strong that it literally told everyone 'Hey look at me, I'm beautiful, love me…'

Nando also seemed to be at lost for words as he tried to compose a song to define such pure radiance. "Oh… my…"

"Wow Dawn" Ash of course was not really fazed but was still impressed nonetheless, "You look great! Like a real princess!"

"Why thank you Ash" Dawn let out a playful polite bow to them, "You like it?"

"Definitely! Your mom must be a really talented seamstress to make something like this!"

"Yeah, she makes a lot of these during her free time back at home. But I don't remember seeing this in her collection. What do you think Kenny?" they all turned to the boy who was still lost in words. "Kenny?"

"B… b… ba… ba" before he knew it he was already baaahhing like a sheep in the meadow.

"Bah? Kenny is something wrong with you?" the moment Dawn's fingers touched the boy's face, his face suddenly began to boil like a thermometer in a sauna bath. In just a few seconds he began to pop his goosebumps one by one.

"AHH!! Y… y y y … you look alright!" Kenny blurted out before turning his face away.

"Uh… ok I guess" Dawn stated a little confused.

It wasn't long then till Ash noted Zoey in a different attire as well. "And what about you Zoey? Why the change?"

"Oh I thought that I might as well change into something new. I thought that since everyone was changing their look I might as well do the same"

Nando caught this and quickly went to a corner to gloom. "(sob) Everyone's got a new costume but me…"

"Oh but you look great already Nando ahehehe"

"Attention" came a computerized voice, "The appeal round of the Sinnoh Grand Festival is about to begin. Coordinators, please be ready until your name has been called. If you are next, please report to the main entrance immediately. All visitors will have to exit now. You may return during the half time break. That will be all, thank you"

"Well I guess I'd better get out of here as well" Ash motioned off, "I'll be cheering you guys from the stands. Good luck!"

**(Time skip) (1 hour later)**

As Ash joined the seats with Johanna and Brock, the first row of coordinators soon took to the stage in order to appeal to the judges. Even though this was just the beginning of the contest, Ash couldn't help but remain at awe as more and more coordinators pass on. Their performance even up to now was incredible beyond words. Just when they thought that they've seen it all, the next coordinator hurls in an unimaginable performance which awed just about the whole stadium.

After an hour of performing trainers passed on to the waiting room, Ash broke out a worried sweat since it was already obvious that this competition was more than he could even pull out in a year's worth of training. He was beginning to worry if Dawn and the others were up to their level. And even if they were, they would still have a hard time just getting above the average to make it to the next round.

"What's the matter Ash?" the boy was broke out of his thoughts when Johanna perked in.

"Oh sorry Johanna, I guess you could say that I'm a little nervous for everyone"

"Oh don't a worry wart Ash. I'm pretty sure Dawn and the others will do just fine"

"I know they'll do great… but it's just…"

Johanna couldn't help but smile as she saw the boy's heart filled with the power to worry more about his friends rather than himself. "Ash…… I know my daughter better than anyone here in this stadium. I'm pretty sure she's nervous too. But it doesn't matter if she wins or loses… it's the fact that she managed to come this far, already makes me proud. She learned a lot during these pass few months and it's thanks to you that she's gotten this far"

"Me? Oh no I didn't do anything, really!" the boy was being modest, "I just showed her a few tips and tricks that's all ahehehe"

"Oh don't sell yourself short Ash" Johanna smiled even more, "She told me a lot of things during your travels with her. And of the things she says have you in it"

"R… really?"

"Really… now stop worrying and enjoy the show. You don't exactly get to see these kinds of performance everyday"

"Yeah… I guess you're right"

"A mother always knows best dear tee hee"

After a few more minutes went by Dawn's name was finally shown on the screen. "Hey look" Brock pointed at the screen. "Dawn's coming up next!"

"Alright, finally!" Ash cheered.

"My little angel is finally going on stage in her new dress!" Johanna quickly pulled out a video camera from her bag and began taping the whole show. "Dawn, over here sweetie! Smile for the camera!"

"And now for our next appealer: Hailing all the way from Twinleaf town. It's none other than Dawn Berlitz! Let's give it up for her ladies and gentlemen!" there was a round of applause given by the audience as Dawn finally made her way on stage. Even though it was thick dress she was wearing, Dawn had to admit that it was quite comfy and easy to move in for some reason.

"_Alright…"_ the girl thought to herself as she held her Pokeball tightly onto her chest. _"I can do this. This is what I've been training for since the start of my journey. There's no need to worry, it's just another contest. Just give it your all and everything will be just fine. Mom is watching and I can't let her down on this"_ she closed her eyes and slowly visualized her mother's presence along with her. But just as she slowly pictured her face, another presence seemed to replace it.

That silly cap, that silly smile and those determined eyes. _"Huh? What the?"_ Dawn raised her eyes up in shock. _"Wait a minute… I was thinking about mom. But why did Ash appear? Come on now Dawn, focus. Mom's here to give you strength… just think hard…"_ again she tried to conjure up her mother's hand reaching out to her, but also this time, the hand was replaced by that of Ash. _"Huh? No… why is he here? He's not supposed to…"_ but before she could reject the boy's face, her heart suddenly began to increase its beat, pumping the blood in her veins to go even faster. She clutched her chest tightly as her face began to flush within every second. "Wha… what's happening? I feel like I'm about to explode…"

And just the bell rung to signal the beginning of the round, Dawn's heart raced even faster. "Piplup, it's time! Spotlight!" Dawn did not know what was going on with her, but she couldn't deny that strange feeling any longer. The moment she opened her soul to it, it was like a wave of power surged through body. It was… incredible… something that even words or song could barely even describe.

That expression of course, did not escape Johanna's eyes.

"And so Dawn is starting off with Piplup!" Kitty announced before moving back to give the girl some breathing room.

"Piplup, let's start this off with whirlpool! (Piplup!)" the penguin Pokemon quickly unleash a power whirlpool attack which laid steadily on the center of the stage. "Now use bubble beam on the whirlpool!" the bubbles quickly floated on the surface of the whirlpool and surprisingly, they all began to float around in rhythm of the current. "Alright Piplup, ride on the whirlpool and use bide!"

Just as Piplup rode on the whirlpool, Brock immediately understood what she was planning. "I get it now! Even though Piplup isn't taking any damage, it can use the whirlpool to build up power just the same. This is sure to earn her some great points!"

"Alright Piplup, now let it all out!" the moment Piplup was at the center of the whirlpool with its bide charging up, the light and power it unleashed was so brilliant that it popped every bubble that were flying in the air. After a graceful landing on the floor, both Dawn and Piplup bowed to the judges to signal the end of their performance.

To say the least, the crowd and the judges were at awe. Dawn truly had brought in the big guns and she didn't even once hesitate to use them. By the time they raised their heads up, a big round of applause was heard throughout the entire stadium. The sound of claps and whistles echoed everywhere, making the parade outside sound like a child whining about his spilled ice cream cone. Heck, even the judges stood up from their seats!

With the performance done, Dawn quickly held her Piplup by her arm and bowed back to the audience before heading back to the waiting room. Even in there, her competitors were also giving her a round of applause as well. She had performed so admirably that even her future opponents did not give second thought that she would definitely make it to the next round.

"That was an amazing performance by Dawn everyone! What a wonderful sight. It clearly shows the true talent of a contest" Kitty finished off.

"That was incredible!" Ash finally spoke up after a brief moment of clapping. "I've never seen Dawn do that kind of performance before. I have no doubt that she'll make it to the second round for sure.

Brock couldn't help but agree, "Yeah, she really outdid herself this time. That performance topped everything I've seen so far in this appeal. She's definitely gonna make it to the next round, I'm sure of it. What do you think Johanna?" but to his surprise, the woman was in her chibi face form with comical tears streaming down her eyes like two steams of waterfalls. "Wahh!?"

She let out a sniff, "That was just… so… beautiful. I never Dawn would be this amazing at such a short time" she suddenly pulled out a box of tissue out of nowhere and let out her joy in the essence of a sickly liquid. "I'm so proud, I could eat my heart out!" the two trainers who were with her simply let out a sweat drop go down their heads as they couldn't tell if she was really serious or joking about that last comment.

After the next few performances went out, Ash could say that all of his friends did adequately. They truly did their best and held nothing back just like he told them. It was fun watching everyone doing what they did best, but soon, he noted that it was almost his time to leave the stage. "Uh oh… I guess I got to go now"

"Oh, where are you going Ash?" Johanna asked.

"I'm going to the city's main stadium" he answered smiling. His little yellow companion saw his master stood up so he quickly leaped his way to his shoulder so that he wouldn't fall behind. "The preliminary rounds maybe finished but I still have a long way to go before I become the champ" he clenched his fist up to his face and starred at it like he was looking at the world at the palm of his hand. "My next battle is just an hour from now"

"Oh yeah" Johanna recalled, "Your battle schedule is in conflict with the Grand Festival contest, isn't it? I guess you should hurry before they disqualify you. But it would mean a lot if you told your friends in the waiting room"

"Yeah, I think I'll stop by there before I head off. It's already half time anyway" and with a good luck farewell from Brock and Johanna the boy ran up towards the waiting room to see his companions.

**(Waiting room)**

"Well, it looks like that's the halftime bell" Kenny noted as he watched the other coordinators settle down after a long day's performance. He had to admit that many of them performed admirably and some even better than his own. "The competition is really going to be tough. A lot of them performed really well today"

"Yeah" Zoey agreed wiping a sweat off her brow. "I really gave it my all in that last one. I don't think I can do better than that"

"I must agree to that as well" Nando added as he came to them. He had with him three cans of sodas which he quietly distributed to the gang. "With all the competition, I think the judges will be having a hard time just picking a handful of us"

"Yeah…" Zoey then turned towards Dawn who was sitting by the mirror grooming herself with a comb. "But I don't think Dawn's worried about that one bit" the three of them broke a chuckle. Just then, Zoey noticed from the corner from her eye that Ash had arrived just as he promised he would. "Ah… hey Ash, over here!" the boy quickly march in to them with a proud face on his torso. "You're here early"

"Yeah, sorry about that" he scratched his hair slightly off his back. "But it looks like I won't be able to see you guys on the second round"

"Your battle is right around the corner, isn't it?"

"Oh you know?"

"Of course" the red head grinned happily putting one hand on her elbow. "Your battles won't be easy, so good luck to ya"

"Hey, don't worry. All I gotta do is give it my all, isn't that right?" after a few more good luck words of wisdom from the rest of the coordinators, Ash suddenly noticed that one of the important members of the gang wasn't there. "Ah hey, where's Dawn? I wanted to congratulate her on her great performance" Zoey opened her mouth, but suddenly stopped when her heart beat began to run up her face. She knew where the girl was, but something deep in her soul was telling her not to tell.

"Hmm, now that you mentioned it, where is she by the way?" Kenny spoke up as he scanned the area. But due to the large amount of trainers passing and walking by, it was hard to pinpoint the girl's exact location.

"I was sure she went to the changing room to prepare for the second round" Nando added. After a slight insecure silence went by, Ash took another look at his Pokemon Ranger armband only to find out that his time was almost up. "Ahh man, is that the time already? If I don't hurry, I'm gonna be late for my battle. Sorry guys, but I got to go now. If you see Dawn, tell her good luck for me. I gotta go, see ya later, bye!" and like an energetic bullet, he fired himself to the exit without a second thought.

"Hehehe… that boy is still like an energetic ball as always" the harpist let out a chuckle. The others agreed wholeheartedly.

And as if right on cue to the boy's disappearance, Dawn appeared with Piplup on her shoulder, her princess gown still flowing by the coming wind. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"Oh hey Dawn" her childhood friend let out a smirk, "Where've ya been? Ash was here just a second ago"

"Huh? Really? Where!?" she turned her head around fumingly trying to find the boy.

"You just missed him. He left for his Pokemon battle just a second ago"

Knowing this, Dawn let out a puff off her cheeks. "Ohhh… he could've at least said good luck to me at least after what I did at the appealing round"

"Don't worry Dawn, I'm sure everyone here thought that your performance was awesome. Besides, we wouldn't want to keep Ash from his dream too"

"Yeah… but……" Dawn suddenly began to feel her heart was slowly being pierced by a rusted knife. In every contests that she's been Ash would always come by to compliment or comment after an appeal or a battle. He would also sometimes although rarely give out advice which were pretty useful at times as well. "He could've at least said something about my performance"

**(Pokemon league multi-field arena)**

Ash spared no moment to catch his breath to get to the stadium where his next battle was. As expected, the entire arena was jammed packed full of spectators and media crews. Those who were unable to get a seat in the stadium had to make due with the large mega screen at the lobby. As Ash moved up towards the reception desk, he quickly presented his number card so that he would be directed to the battlefield.

"Ah, you must be trainer number 27" the female receptionist noted the thin piece of paper that was placed in front of her. "Congratulation on making it to the quarter-final's first round"

"Huh? Quarter-finals? I thought I was already at the semi-finals"

Seeing that the boy seemed new to the match ups the receptionist decided to explain. "Well, as you can see the entire Pokemon league consist mostly of four segments: The preliminary round which you fought before, the quarter finals which you are about to go in, the semi finals and of course the finals. Both the quarter finals and the semi finals have 2 rounds each. So out of the 32 trainers, the last 2 remaining trainers will then move on to the finals"

"So that means I'll have to fight four more times before I get to the finals?"

"That's correct. If you become the champion, you'll have the right to take on the Elite Four Challenge which by now you already know is to defeat the Elite Fours and the champion Cynthia herself" she let out a giggle, "But let's not move on ahead now. Let's see what battlefield you're located in. Your next match is coming right about…… huh?"

"Is something wrong?" Ash noted the woman's strange expression.

"Well… it looks like your battle will have to be postponed for a few minutes"

"Huh? Why's that?"

"The battlefield you're using was damaged by the last battle so the repair crews are fixing the problem at the moment. Why don't you wait for awhile and I'll call you when they're done"

"Ok… thanks" the boy sunk his face down a little disappointed that he didn't get to battle right away. He was already in the zone and in the mood for a good match, but now it seemed like he has to wait just a little while longer. But just before he could grab a seat he notice from the corner of his eye a familiar face coming out from the battlefield entrance area. "Huh? It's Paul…"

The trainer turned to the voice where his named was mentioned and was a little startled to see Ash, "Oh… it's you. You're here early. I thought you'd still be in that Grand Festival contest watching your friends compete" his voice still retained those hateful essence and disgust.

But Ash had gotten used to the boy's cold features. He knew that it was just how Paul talks but he couldn't understand why he can't change it. "What's wrong with watching a contest?"

The boy shrugged, "Since you're aiming to become a Pokemon master, I think it would be best for you to stick with one thing rather than doing both contest and battles"

"Hey, I don't need you to tell me what I can or can't do! (Pika pika!)" unconsciously, Ash could not believe how he had just reacted then. Back during his adventures he rarely shows a face of anger to an opponent even during the most horrid of times, but here now… he was already ticked off just talking with the boy. "Just you wait Paul, when we meet on the battlefield, I'll show you what it means to be a real Pokemon trainer! (Pika!)"

The two of them starred at each other for awhile fixing their gaze on their faces, remembering every feature there is. Because they knew eventually that when they meet on the battlefield, there was not going to be any room for remorse.

"Tch… whatever" Paul shrugged before moving away. "Just try not to lose before we meet" and at that moment, Ash suddenly felt a strange hidden message behind that last phrase. He listened closely and noticed that behind all that disgust and hatred, was another feeling… like a hidden meaning behind the word.

"Huh? What was that strange feeling just now?" but he decided to shake it off, "Ahh who cares!? I got to focus on the match. You ready Pikachu? (Pika pika!) Alright, then let's do this!" and with a wave of his fist the boy marched right into the battlefield to see his next opponent.

**(VIP view room)**

In a private VIP room located within the arena, the Elite Four members and the champion Cynthia were relaxing comfortably on their soft chairs while viewing the battles on their personal monitors. Aaron and Lucian were playing a game of Shogi (Japanese chess) not really paying much attention to the screens. Berthat was having a nice cup of green tea viewing one of the battles with some slight interest. But she didn't find the trainers any different than what she had seen already. Some were crude, few were graceful and many were just plain ignorant. She let out a sigh for a few moments before turning back to her other companions.

Flint was sitting comfortably on his bean bag with a drink in his hand. He had already fallen asleep after watching the first three matches and since most of them all had boys, it was obvious that he didn't find them interesting.

Cynthia on the other hand was sitting on one of the more comfortable chairs, reading a magazine she bought from the store today. She had one of her leg above the other and one of her hand holding her head. She seemed very relaxed and calmer for some reason. Bertha noticed this and was quite curious on what she could be reading that could make the strongest Pokemon trainer in the world become so vulnerable.

As she peeked her eye onto the page, she was surprised to see that it was actually a picture of Ash doing one of his 'I got a (item/badge/Pokemon)' pose. There was a small rumor bio area which revealed some of the boy's history and recent victories in contests and unofficial battles, but of all that, Cynthia just seemed to be focusing her attention on the boy's picture. It was like she was somehow drawn to him by his face… his looks… his… aura.

But just before the old trainer could comment on what the champ was looking, one of the butlers came by and whispered something into the blonde's ears. "Really? (whisper) Alright good… I'll be there" she then rose up from her seat and went off towards the exit.

"Oh… Cynthia, where are you going?" Lucian noted.

The girl turned around and smiled at them, "I'm going out for awhile. I'll be back in a few" and without even waiting for a reply, she rushed onto the elevator and closed it.

The sound of the bell was loud enough just to break Flint off his sleep. "Huh? Wha? What did I miss?"

"What was that all about?" Aaron wondered since he never saw Cynthia in such a rush before.

But Bertha simply chuckled, "Oh leave her be… she's only following her own feelings hmm hmm hmm hmm…"

**(On the battlefield)**

Ash was now standing on the platform overlooking the battlefield which was probably six times larger than the one he used during the preliminaries. He was awed with the large numbers of spectators watching the battle but what surprised him the most was that there was a picture of his face on a cardboard, carried around by a large number of teenage cheerleaders.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" the MC who was sitting in a soundproof room above the stadium stated, "Welcome to the Sinnoh League 1st round of the Quarter Finals! (cheer) We have a special treat for you this afternoon everyone. Because right now, the rising star of the Sinnoh region, is in this battle! (cheers) That's right folks! On the blue corner, hailing all the way from Kanto, winner of the Orange League and a celebrity in the eyes of many… it's none other than…… ASH Ketchum!! (CHEEERRRSS!!!!)" the crowd literally went wild like making the entire stadium shake slightly.

"Wow, listen to that Pikachu" Ash let out a wave to everyone, "Whoever thought that we'd actually become famous without noticing (Pika pika)"

"And on the red corner, hailing all the way from Twinleaf town: A trainer whose name appeared many times on the Sinnoh region scoreboard. It's… Lucas!!! (cheer)"

"Huh? Twinleaf town?" Ash recognized the name. "Isn't that the same town where Dawn came from? (Pika…) Oh well… it doesn't matter where they're from. We'll beat them all the way (PIKA!)"

On the other side of the battlefield, the trainer known as Lucas was having some thought on his opponent as well. "So that's the great Ash Ketchum huh?" he muttered to himself, "He's got a lot of experience under his belt. This is going to be fun. But hey, I didn't come here just to quit. Bring it on…" he grinned ear to ear, and excitement plastered all over his face. "Win or lose, it'll be all up to this"

With the two trainers ready and settled the MC continued, "And now we will be having a roulette pick the field of the battle. Let's see which one they'll have. Spin it!" the monitor quickly changed to a number of elements. After awhile, the screen stopped onto the grass. "And the first element is grass! This will give an advantage on grass type everyone! Now let's pick on the secondary element!"

"Huh? Secondary?" Ash muttered questioningly before turning his attention back to the screen. After awhile, the screen stopped onto… water.

"And the second element is water everyone!" the MC announced, "Let's bring up the field!" and without any hesitation, the battlefield began changing into a large grass field with a man-made river at the center.

How the architects were able to make this was beyond what Ash could comprehend, but now was not the time to be surprised. He had two types to choose from so it was now his turn to meet his own expectation. "Well, this is interesting. A battle with two elements… that's new. Alright Pikachu, you ready for this? (Pika Pikachu)" the little yellow mouse quickly jumped off his master's shoulder to give him some arm room.

"We will now begin the match!" the referee stated before waving his flags up. "This is a three on three match with no substitution on time out. The winner will be decided when all three chosen Pokemons on one side are unable to battle!" He then flipped a coin in the air and held it on the back of his palm. "The red corner will first choose his Pokemon. BEGIN!" and with a blow of the whistle, Lucas took out a Pokeball and threw it out.

"I choose you Infernape!" a large fire monkey appeared with a smirk on its face.

"An Infernape huh" Ash grinned, "Well, then, I guess I'll just have to start off with you. Buizel, I choose you!" a small sea weasel appeared with a smirk a little smaller than Infernape's.

"This is exciting folks! Lucas has chosen Infernape and Ash has chosen Buizel! It looks like Ash has the advantage over on this battle, but we'll have to wait and see who wins this one!"

With both trainers ready and able, the referee blew out his whistle once again to start the match. "Infernape, use ember attack GO!" the monkey let out a volley of fireballs onto its target, but Ash wasn't going to get taken down by a cheap shot.

"Buizel let's go! Water gun!" the two attacks collided at the center of the field, engulfing the place with a thin fog of smoke. "Alright! Buizel, aqua jet! (Bui bui!)" Buizel smirked and hastily launched itself towards the monkey, causing serious damage.

"And it looks like Ash Ketchum has given the first direct blow to the opponent!" the MC commentated. "That aqua jet has caused Infernape to slouch back and seems to be stunned at the moment!"

"Whoa!" Lucas said in amazement, "That was some fast attack moves. This guy doesn't leave any room for a breather! I guess we'll have to go all serious too! Infernape, use mega punch!"

"Dodge it Buizel!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

As the two Pokemons battle it out on the field, Cynthia enters the arena, and watched the battle from the distance not wanting to alarm the crowd with her presence. But just as she entered, Aaron and Lucian followed suit. "There you are" the psychic Pokemon master sighed, "You left so suddenly. I thought it might've been a family emergency"

"Sorry" Cynthia replied with a smile, "I wanted to see this battle with my own eyes rather than behind a screen"

"Is that so? I guess arriving here was coincidental hehehe"

"But you got to admit that Ash got skill" said Aaron, the bug Pokemon master, "He's really got the advantage on both Pokemon types and field"

"Yes, but it's not over yet" Cynthia added, "There's a reason why that trainer chose a fire Pokemon for this field. But the question is… does Ash know about it?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Back on the field, Buizel and Infernape had just finished clashing with one another. They were not totally equally matched due to the type advantage, but Ash did not let his guard down one bit. He strengthened up his knees and kept his eyes on the opponent. "Now Buizel, use water gun one more time!"

Lucas saw this and quickly decided to make an opening. "Looks like it's time to put on my moves! Infernape, dodge that water gun and burn the field with flame thrower!" just as the fire monkey dodged the Buizel's attack, it quickly unleash a powerful flamethrower, burning every single strain of grass, engulfing the field in a sea of flames.

"So that was his plan huh?" Ash muttered smirking, "I guess you could say that's a good one. But it won't work on me. Buizel, in to the river now!" Buizel quickly dove into the river to block the fire from damaging its skin.

"Good move" Lucas grinned, "But the water isn't exactly that deep. Infernape, use mega punch on the water now!" with one blow of its fist, the river was suddenly cut in two by the fire monkey, surprising the audience and the MC. "Bet you didn't see that coming" but Lucas's smirk was cut short when he noticed something wasn't right. He burned the field and forced Buizel into the water and exposed it by destroying the water blow. But what came next caught him completely by surprised. Buizel was holding a water pulse ball… and it looked like it was ready to strike.

"Saw it coming…" Ash muttered before issuing the attack, "Now Buizel, use water pulse! (BUIIIIII!!)" with one furious blow of the attack, Infernape was thrown off the ring and crashed right onto the platform where Lucas was standing.

"Oh no… Infernape, are you alright?" but the referee could already tell that the Pokemon was down for the count.

"Infernape is unable to battle, the match goes to Buizel!"

Ash let out a good cheer of joy, "Alright Buizel great job! (Pika pika!) (Bui)" the weasel let out a boasting snuff. "Alright Buizel, return"

"Infernape, return" Lucas sighed before planting a kiss on the Pokeball, "You did great Infernape. (grin) I guess this kid isn't popular without a good reason. Alright then, Staraptor, I choose you!" a giant bird appeared in the air, ready to do battle.

"A flying type huh? I guess this time is as good as any" Ash snickered before pulling out his Pokeball as well, "My turn then… Gliscor, I choose you!"

"Lucas's second Pokemon is a Staraptor and Ash has substituted Buizel for Gliscor!" the MC commented on the situation, "Looks like this battle with be an aerial one. But I doubt any of them will be holding anything back! Ash has already won the first match without taking a single hit, but I believe that Lucas still has a few tricks up his sleeves"

"You got that right" Lucas then quickly folded out scarf and looked up to the sky, "Alright Staraptor, show them how fast you can go! Aerial ace!"

"Gliscor, block it with your claws!" the attack met against Gliscor head on, but thanks to Ash's quick thinking he was able to deflect the attack by just a millimeter. "Alright!"

"That Gliscor's got a tough shell. I'll have to pump this one up. Staraptor, use quick attack followed by steel wing!" the bird Pokemon quickly followed its master's command, but as usual, Ash still had plans for it.

"Gliscor, just stay put and keep on blocking! (Pika pika!) (Gliscor!)"

After the two attacks collided, Lucas began to wonder what was Ash trying to do. A few minutes ago he was on the offensive and now he was going all defense. "Hmm I guess this is the only obvious choice for him. Both our Pokemons can fly, but my Staraptor wins in speed no doubt about it. He must know that too, that's why he's only taking on my hits. But why keep blocking?"

Unable to take the pressure any longer, Lucas decided to end this match with some old fashion brute force, "Alright Staraptor, let's finish this quickly with Brave Bird! You won't miss this one!"

"Brave bird?!" Ash yelped, "This must be his strongest attack. Gliscor, hang in there and block it! Don't let it get through!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Back on the stands, Lucian couldn't believe that Ash was going to make a stand. "He's going to take the Brave Bird attack head on? That's a strange way of doing things, don't you think Cynthia?"

"No…" Cynthia grinned knowing well what the boy was planning. "Brave bird is indeed a powerful attack, but it also damages the user as well. That's the opportunity Ash is going to use for a counter attack"

"But still…" Aaron beckoned, "If that Brave bird hit Gliscor, Ash won't have much time to recover before launching another attack. That's the advantage of brave bird, since it uses the whole body as a weapon"

"Yes and Ash knows that very well. Let's just see what he can do"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

And just right when the attack was about to hit, Ash moved in "Alright Gliscor, cover yourself with steel wing! NOW!" and with Gliscor's strong wings, it was able to stop Staraptor in mid air. That move alone surprised everyone, even the Elite Four members themselves.

To say the least, Lucas was surprised, "No way! Even with steel wing, Gliscor should've bounced right off the sky" quickly analyzing that situation, Lucas then noticed that there was something amiss about the bat Pokemon. "Wait a second… could it be that it's…"

"You got that right" Ash yelled from his side of the field, "Now Gliscor, use X-scissor! (GLISCORRRR!!!!)" and with one powerful hit from Gliscor, Staraptor was pounded right on the head and down into the fiery field"

"No way! Staraptor!" but it was too late for the trainer to do anything about it now. By the time Lucas recovered from the shock, his Pokemon was incapacitated by the heat of the field which he burned earlier.

"Staraptor is no longer able to battle! This battle goes to Gliscor and Ash!" the referee declared again waving his flag.

"Alright!" Ash cheered in victory, "You were awesome Gliscor! (Pika Pikachu!) (Gli! Gliscor!)"

"I should've known" Lucas humored "He was using the heat to increase Gliscor's endurance. He's not using much of strategy or tactics but more of techniques. He's using my own powers against myself. (smirk) But this battle is still far from being decided! Staraptor return!"

"Gliscor, return!" Ash returned his Pokemon and gently tucked it back onto his Pokemon Ranger armband. "Good work Gliscor, you did great"

"Both trainers have returned their Pokemons folks!" the MC continued, "This last one will determine the fate of all!"

The two trainers stared at each other for a moment but made no move. Lucas was indeed in trouble ,but the excitement of the battle was just too good for him to frown. He was so tensed up that his muscles seemed to be moving on their own. He slowly pulled out a Pokeball from his pocket and threw it up in the air. "Magmortar, I choose you!"

"Chimchar, I choose you!"

"OHHH and what's this? (gasps) Both trainers have chosen fire Pokemons for the next battle. Ash has chosen Chimchar and Lucas has chosen Magmortar as his final Pokemon for today's match. Only time and skill will tell who will triumph"

As the crowd continue to grow restless of the heating intensity of the match, Lucas gave out a grin, "I've got to hand it to you Ash. You really got some skill. I guess they don't call you a Pokemon ace trainer for nothing around these parts, but I have no intention of backing down without giving it my all!"

"Hey that goes double for me!" Ash smirked out, "I have no intention of losing either so get ready because here I come! Chimchar, use flame wheel attack!"

"Good! Just the way I like it! Magmortar, let's show him some real fire power! Go on and use flame thrower!" the two attacks collided, which resulted in a powerful explosion at the center of the field. The two fire Pokemons clashed again but resulted in nothing more but a battle between strength and power. "Magmortar, use ember attack!"

"Chimchar, use dig!" the ember attack only missed Chimchar by just a few inches when it dug beneath the hot earth.

"Darn… this isn't good" Lucas noted to himself, "Magmortar, be careful! That little guy can attack from anywhere! Don't let your guard down!" the giant fire Pokemon quickly began scanning its surrounding to see where Chimchar might attack, but due to the heat made by the earth, it was unable to tell where it could even come from. Panicked, the fire Pokemon leaped out of the area trying to find a suitable place to defend itself. But unfortunately, all the areas are the same, and obviously the river would only diminish his strength by half. Not being able to take the pressure, Lucas went to desperate measures, "Magmortar, use protect!"

After a few minutes later, Ash let out a smirk, "Now Chimchar!" the monkey reaapeared on the battlefield but was unable to break through Magmortar's defenses that easily. "Hmm… a powerful defensive move. This could be trouble"

"Magmortar, use thunder punch and send that monkey flying!"

"Chimchar, jump and spin around!" again, Ash's renowned spin technique worked like a charm and successfully made Chimchar dodge the attack.

"What the!? No way! Magmortar, use thunder punch one more time!"

"Chimchar, use flame wheel!" just before Magmortar could make a complete 180 degree to turn around, Chimchar had already smacked onto its side, wounding it greatly and sending all across the arena, plowing through the dirt like a shovel.

"Oh no! Magmortar!"

"WHOA!!!" The MC yelled to the top of his lunges, "Incredible! Magmortar just got hit by a powerful physical attack. Can it still stand after such a blow!?" but unfortunately, Magmortar was no longer able to stand. Even after such a battle, it was obvious that the blow would cause serious damage to its body. By the time the smoke cleared the Pokemon was down for the count.

"Magmortar is no longer able to battle!" the referee declared, "The winner of the battle goes to Chimchar. The victory of this match goes to Ash Ketchum!!!" the crowd immediately burst up as if they were ready to storm in and hug the boy to death.

"And there you have it folks! What an incredible match!" the MC shouted in awe, "Ash Ketchum defeated his opponent without even once losing a single Pokemon! I've got to say that it was an amazing match even though it was short. This means that Ash Ketchum will be advancing to the next round of the quarter finals!"

By hearing this, Ash quickly jumped with joy as he returned Chimchar back into his Pokeball. "Alright we did it! Thanks Chimchar you earned a good rest. I'll be sure to have Brock make some extra chow for all of ya" a few minutes after the victory announcement was done, Ash and his opponent met up together at the side of the still burning battlefield and shook hands for a battle well fought.

"Thanks a lot Ash" Lucas showed his gratitude, "That was the greatest match I had all year. You really showed me that I still have a lot to learn before I'm able to match the Sinnoh League"

"Hey, you didn't do too bad yourself" Ash replied, "You didn't hold anything back so that means victory for all of us, right?"

The opponent only smirked before picking out something from his jacket. "Heh… thanks. I hope we meet again soon, because by that time, I'll probably be twice as I am now"

"Hey any time anywhere Lucas. I'll see you around"

"Same here"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Back on the top of the arena, Lucian and Aaron were both amazed and impressed with the victor's actions. They let out soft claps of their own but it was deafened by the applause given by the crowd. "Well whadayaknow. He actually won the audience already" Aaron smirked with one hand on his waist. "I don't know about you Lucian, but that Ash is really something. He kinda reminds me about Cynthia when she first showed up in this stadium"

"Indeed" the psychic trainer replied, "But we will see soon enough, if he is strong enough to take on us. What do you think of him Cynthia?" a silence pause remained worried the two when the champ didn't reply. They quickly turned their heads around, only to realize that the girl they were calling to had already left, leaving the two of them behind to wonder where she went. "Eh? Where did she go?"

"Hmm… maybe she went back to the lounge?" the bug trainer said unsure.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

By the time the match ended, Ash made his way outside the stadium where the numbers of spectators had greatly dwindled. After his victory was assured, no one thought that the match was worth watching anymore. He savored the moment of triumph in his stomach but couldn't get enough since his next battle wasn't going to happen in a few more days.

That means he's gonna have some time to train before his next match comes up.

But instead of returning to his comrades, the boy decided to treat his Pokemons for a little snack for a job well done. He fed them some Pokeblocks that he bought from the nearby store and treated himself to some candies. All in all, the moment was good. "Haa… this is the life. Nothing like a good well earned snack after a hard battle. I bet the others are probably doing just as good as I am ahehehe (Pi ka) Hehehe. Man two easy wins and already I feel like the next one is gonna be a breeze, right guys?" his team let out a cheer altogether before returning to their meal. "Hehehe, oh well. Don't let me stop you guys from digging in hehehe" he gradually went back to eating, unknown to him however… that one of his friends was in dire situation.

**(Sinnoh Grand Festival stadium) (Match: Dawn VS Misaki (OC) )**

The crowds in the grand festival were growing stranger by the moment with Dawn's actions. After the match had begun, she had done poorly to say the least. The scoreboard was not in her favor and Pachirisu, the Pokemon that she had chosen for this battle was already badly wounded. She could not tell why… but something deep inside her was missing. Something that she used to have… something that was vital to every battle she went through.

"This is truly an upset everyone!" Kitty announced, "With two minutes on the clock will Dawn be able to make a come back in such a short time!?"

There was silence in the air… Dawn was hallow… her heart bore a sting of pain that she could not remove. She was helpless and not even a miracle would be enough to save her from a total defeat. She looked to the side, her eyes empty as if the battle spirit had been withered away by some dark force of unknown. She could not lift a finger to save her own life and when her opponent commanded another her attack, so too did the strength in her muscles… failed.

"Dawn, wake up!"


	11. A Borrowed Strength Rises

**Chapter 11: The Borrowed Strength Rises**

**(Outside the Grand Festival Stadium) (Sunset)**

"Haaa… nothing like a good meal for celebrating a well earned victory, right Pikachu? (Pika pika!)" that was the sound of Ash rubbing his stomach after gorging at the snack bar earlier after his victory at the Sinnoh stadium. After 9 burgers 4 hotdogs and 12 double large soda drink he practically ate a whole month worth of food that afternoon. The vendors there were really glad that he ate there because of his popularity and fame, many other trainers from the city began to come by just to get a picture of him. They all gave Ash a hearty thanks and urge him to come back any time even though he didn't even know why. "I bet everyone in the stadium must've won already. Hey, maybe we should ask Brock to cook us up one of his good old meals. We could all have a victory feast back at the Pokemon center"

And right on cue the Grand Festival stadium was right in sight. The usual crowd had already left except for a few guards to make sure everything was in check. But at the front of the gate were a few trainers that were waiting for their pickups and right at the center was a group that Ash knew well. "Hey there they are. Hey guys!" the gang quickly noted the boy and waved back. "Sorry I wasn't able to catch your match"

"Hey look who's here. The winner of the day" Brock motioned with his usual proud smile.

"Hey that's ok" Kenny replied, "But we saw your match on TV. You were great!"

"Yeah, you didn't even lose a single Pokemon" Zoey added, "That trainer didn't stand a chance"

Nando was still reading his novelty book so he wasn't going to say anything for awhile. "So how about you guys? How were your matches?" Ash asked.

Kenny snobbily rubbed his nose looking like a tough guy. "Hehehe… it was nothing. My opponent was too easy. I beat him with one hand tied behind my back. He was no match against my Breloom"

"In Kenny's language, that means: I almost got beaten if my opponent didn't make a bad move" Brock translated in a way.

"I had a little difficulty" Zoey inclined, "But I managed to way in the end. But you should've seen Nando. He practically won without losing a single point"

"Wow! Is that true Nando?"

"Hmm?" the harpist was quickly drawn away from his book when his name was mentioned. "Oh hello Ash. I didn't even know you were here" the others face faulted. "I'm sorry, I'm just so into this new book I bought that I haven't been able to focus on anything nowadays. What were you talking about?"

"N… nothing…" Ash let out a sweat drop. But before he continued, he noticed that Dawn and Johanna were nowhere to be found. "A hey… where's Dawn?" a deathly silence came over the area by the mention of that girl's name. With just a whiff, everyone became oddly quiet and the expression on their faces changed instantly. Brock folded his arms with the frown that clearly says 'Don't want to talk about it'. Zoey looked away for a moment not wanting to glance back at the boy. Kenny looked down to his feet with his hair covering his eyes and Nando quickly folded down his hat and silently returned to his book. "Uh… guys?" quickly a sudden dread feeling crept up his spine. "Wait, don't tell me that she lost!"

Seeing that the boy was demanding answers, Zoey soon decided to be the bearer of some slightly bad news. "Well no… she didn't lose"

"Then why all the silence? (Pika?)"

"Well… let's just say that she won, but not the way we expected"

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"Well…" she sighed, "I guess it kind of started about ten minutes after you left"

**(Flashback 3 hours ago)**

"Phew… what a relief…" Kenny let out a hearty groan after he finally returned to the waiting room where all of his friends. His match had ended thankfully to the timer that went beep. If the bell did not end then, he would definitely be defeated today. "That guy almost had me"

"Congratulations Kenny" Zoey came by with Nando. "That was a close one. A little longer and you might've taken another beating"

He rubbed his head in embarrassment. "Yeah, I underestimated that guy for a minute there. If he pulled off his real power sooner then I would've really lost. But enough about me, I'm guessing after this next match it'll be your turn to battle huh?"

"That's right. But don't worry, I'll be sure to do…"

"My best…" they said together which was then followed by a small laugh.

As the next pair of coordinators went up on stage, the speaker suddenly perked in. "Attention trainers" a computerized voice came, "We will now be having a ten minute break after the next match is decided. Visitors will be allowed in the waiting room for that period only. Snacks and beverages will be distributed shortly. Thank you and good fortune. That is all"

"Well it looks like that match will have to wait a little while longer" Kenny noted the announcement. But then he realized that someone was missing from the group. "Ah hey, where's Dawn?"

Nando pointed towards the benches where the girl in question was sitting silently with her Pachirisu on her lap. "She's still quite depressed that she was chosen to be the last to be on stage. She was probably hoping to go out first and end her stress quickly. Poor girl (pause) Oh well, I'm going back to my book. If you need me, I'll be in the lounge" and before any of them could reply, the harpist was long gone.

Kenny, sensing that something was wrong with his childhood friend, walked up to her with a smile on his face. "Hey there Deedee" he was hoping to get a little reaction by saying her least favorite nickname, but to his shocking surprise, the girl barely even made a move or a comment. "Hello? Hey Dawn, are you there?" he quickly flicked his finger in front of her eyes trying to get her attention.

"Huh?" she was instantly brought out of her trance, "Oh hey Kenny. How was your match?"

The boy literally dropped his head below his shoulders as he was quite disappointed that his friend didn't even watch the battle he had. "Weren't you supposed to watch my match earlier? It was quite a battle. Man…" he sighed depressingly. "Were you sitting here sighing all this time?"

"Ahehehehe… sorry, I guess I'm not my usual self today" she reasoned, "Ahehehe… but seeing you here, that must mean that you won right? So no worries right?"

"I figured you'd say something like that" the boy mumbled to himself. "But anyway. We'll be having a ten minute break after the next match, so you might as well think of a good strategy against your opponent. None of these matches will be easy, that much I can tell you"

"Hey no need to worry" she said her usual catchphrase, "Didn't you see me on my performing act? I did so well I bet even my mom was surprised. What do you think about it?" she suddenly got a little too close to Kenny's face when she asked that question to him. Their nose barely touch that moment making the boy take a few steps back with a feint blush coming on his cheeks.

"W… well, it was good… I guess" he quickly looked the other way not wanting to show his red face to her. "You don't exactly see that kind of performance everyday so I'll you credit for that"

"Tee hee… coming from you, I'll take that as a compliment" Dawn smirked triumphantly. "Anyway, I think I better get some refreshments for myself. All this waiting is making me and Pachirisu thirsty (Chupa!) hehehe"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

She quickly followed the path that Nando took and made her way towards the lounge where she spotted the young musician back to reading his book again while sipping on a drink that he purchased from the vending machine. Dawn was conflicted either to be glad or irritated about that man and his novel. If he didn't have that book, he would've taken the situation back in the Pokemon center a little differently. But thinking of the boy now, Dawn felt a sudden chilling fear creep through her veins. She looked at the palm of her right hand and noticed that it was shaking. "What the? My hand is… shaking" she gripped it together and allowed the fear to subside, but for some reason she can still feel its presence lurking deep in her heart. It was quiet for now, but there was no telling when it might resurface and strike.

But her thoughts were quickly blown away when she heard a couple of whispers from the reception desk. "Hey, did you hear: that famous trainer from Pallet town is having his battle right now"

"What? Seriously? Aww man, I wish I could watch him. He's one of my favorite. My sister is a big fan too. Hey do you think they're broadcasting it on TV right now?"

"Yeah! I bet Sinnoh Now is having first scoop at the battle. There's a TV at the longue, maybe we can ask to change it to that battle"

"Alright, lead the way!"

Dawn really wanted to follow them to the longue area for the visitors and audience, but her mind kept telling her to stay put so that she can participate in the next battle. She conflicted against herself. "Hmm… maybe I'll go watch too? No… no no… I have to wait here. But maybe just for a few minutes? No no no no! Arghh! What am I doing!?" she gave herself a few slaps on the cheek and turned her attention to the vending machine. She slammed a couple of coins in the insert area and took out two soda cans to drown away the thought. "Alright Dawn, come on! Focus! You have a battle soon and you need to be in tip top shape. There's no need for distractions. Focus… focus… focus"

"Hey there sweetie"

Dawn nearly had a heart failure that moment when her mother called out from behind. "AHH!! Mom!? You scared me!"

"Sorry dear. You were just so out of it that I just couldn't resist. I was hoping to find you in the waiting room along with everyone else, but instead I find you here drinking like it was the last day on earth" she chuckled half heartedly, "Is something bothering you dear? You look rather flustered" she was gesturing to the girl's cheeks which were a bit red from her earlier wake up slap and blushes that were appearing.

"N… no of course not!" she stammered becoming even redder by the minute and showing one of her most genuine fake smiles. "I'm perfectly fine. Really"

"Well…… if you say so. But remember, if you're troubled, all you need to do is think about happy thoughts and everything will be all right. Ok? It's never good to hold feelings back. Especially when they're important"

"Yeah, sure thing mom"

"Well, I should be off now. The ten minute break doesn't really last that long. Good luck on your match" and with that her mother left through where she originally came, vanishing into the large sea of audience members spectating the next the match with wide open eyes and ears as Kitty announced the next contestants.

Dawn thought what her mother said and soon began to agree. Her thoughts were indeed clouded with doubts at the moment and she really needed some support to help her carry this weight. She sat down on one of the benches and thought of the good happy times she had during her Pokemon journey. She thought of the time when she saved Piplup from the pack of Aridoses and became her starting Pokemon. She remembered the competitions she had during her adventures. The cheers, the battles, the crowd chanting her name… it all felt like they just happened yesterday. As she opened her eyes, she felt as if the weight that was holding her back lifted away by some magical force. "Hooo… mom was right. Thinking happy thoughts does make me feel better. This competition will definitely be a breeze" she closed her eyes again and continued to create a happy thought in her mind.

**(Dawn's mindscape)**

"Haa…" Dawn imagined herself back at home where her Pokemon journey began. She was back on her soft comfy bed looking at the sun through the veil of her window. The warm heat was a pleasure to her cold feet and her blanket always seemed shorter than it was supposed to be. She reminded herself to ask mom to get her a bigger blanket next time around. But her sleep was suddenly interrupted when her alarm Starly alarm clock began ringing. After a few minutes of more snoozing she folded herself up and opened the window to greet the morning light.

Knowing that her Pokemon journey begins today, the young trainer changed into her traveling outfit so that she could be the first one to pick a Pokemon. After combing her hair and tying the golden hairclips she checked herself one more time at the mirror before jerking back to the room.

"Dawn" came her mother's voice from downstairs. "Are you up? Breakfast is almost ready. You'd better get here quick if you want to go to Sandgem town first"

"Coming mom" she hastily ran down the stairs and into the living room where it was always brightly colored and lively decorated by Johanna's trophy cabinet. Every time Dawn walks through that cabinet she can't help but admire on just how many trophies that her mother had won during her Pokemon journey. There were trophies of all sorts of shapes and sizes, but the one that Johanna prized the most was probably the Sinnoh Grand Festival Cup. It was the prime of her life and the best of her best wins of all.

But her thoughts were dashed away when she heard the sound of the stove being turned on. "The eggs will be ready in a bit" came her mother's voice from the kitchen. "There are some toasts on the table if you want"

"Thanks mom" she quickly dug into the bread and put in some butter to add the flavor. It wasn't long then till a familiar Glameow came by purring on her feet. "Oh, hey there Glameow. How are you? (Meow…) Hehehe… I see you're just as fine as always" she petted the little cat by its spring like tail and smiled happily. Even though she couldn't understand why her mother chose her to be her starter Pokemon, its agility really made it quite the fast fighter. "Hehehe… you're just as cute as always"

"Dawn, stop playing with Glameow like that, you'll get your hands all dirty" came her mother's voice as she appeared with a plate of sunny side up eggs. Dawn was still playing with Glameow so she couldn't see her mother's face. "Come on dear, eat up before your food gets cold"

"Yes mom" but just when Dawn grabbed the plate, she noticed that the hand on the opposite side was wearing fingerless gloves. As she looked up, what was supposed to be the face of her mother was replaced by a boy wearing that silly cap and a funny grin on his lips. It was of course… none other than "Ash…?"

"Hey, you better eat up if you want to get strong" he continued where Johanna's voice trailed off, "Your big debut is starting a few minutes" he was wearing his usual clothes but added a white apron in front. His Pikachu was standing on his left shoulder also smiling like his master. At that very second, Dawn could've swore that her mind had processed almost light-years worth of information. But to sum it all up, she just put these words in mind to keep her from confusing herself.

Ash not mom…

Ash wearing an apron…

Ash making her breakfast…

Ash seeing her in her pajamas…

Ash in her house…

Ash in the same room as her…

Alone…

**(End of mindscape)**

"AHHHHH!!!!!" at the end of Dawn's dream she slammed her fist into the air, knocking Kenny by the face sending him five meters off the ground and onto the floor with stars floating on his head. "Huh? Oh no! Kenny! Are you alright?"

"Is that you god?" he stated dazzled and unconscious. A few minutes after recovering from the blow, the boy borrowed a pack of ice from the ice cream store and placed it on his head where a giant red lump appeared out of the attack. "Man… that was one heck of a punch" he groaned, "What was that all about? All I said was 'hey'. You didn't have to hit me so hard you know"

"Sorry. I was just thinking hard for a second. I was in the moment so I didn't know you were there"

"Heh, the only time I ever see you thinking hard is when you're doing your homework" Kenny humored. "Back during nursery school, we always were a rowdy bunch weren't we?"

"Yeah, I remember you and your friends sneaking out during story time just to get first dibs on the playground hehehehe"

"And you never let anyone bully you too" Kenny added, rubbing the ice on his chin this time where it hurt the most from the punch. "You and Leona always teamed up whenever the bullies come at ya"

"Hehehe… yeah, those were the days. It feels like yesterday you and I were starting on our own Pokemon journey"

"Well, I went first since I was born three months earlier than you"

Dawn fumed, "Hey just because you got a head start doesn't mean you're better than me! Don't forget that it was me who beat you back in the Floaroma contest and saved your hide one too many times in those 'sticky' situations"

Kenny let out a mother of all sweat drops. "Ahehehehe I guess your right about the first half of that sentence. But if I remember correctly, it was Ash who saved you and me from that pit fall back in Mt. Coronet and let's not forget that time when you fell into that ancient temple back in Solaceon town. We had a hard time just looking for you up and down those stairs"

"I told you that it was an accident! It's not like I was the one who made the stairs go up like that!" the girl roared out at him comically. "Besides, if it wasn't for that, my Ambipom would still be an Aipom"

"Oh yeah, speaking of Ambipom. I thought that was Ash's Aipom" the mere mention of the boy's name quickly made the girl flush slightly. "You traded the Buizel you got from the river right?" Dawn began to tremble slightly as she picked out her Ambipom's Pokeball from her side pocket. She remembered how it used to be an Aipom and how it always seemed to cling onto Ash whenever it was scared, lonely or just plain bored.

"Oh… yeah…" she seemed to have forgotten that she never caught the two tailed monkey on her own and realized that Ash was the one who trained it before it became an Ambipom. "I almost forgot about that. (pause) We traded Pokemon that time…" as she recalled that event where they traded their Pokemons in that machine, she began to feel herself blush again making the rose look pink.

But just when she was about to put it back, Kitty's voice came through the speaker to declare the winner. "Ladies and gentlemen, what a spectacular victory by Zoey! With just four moves, she defeated her opponent so gracefully that I couldn't even see what happened during those last two minutes! Give her a round of applause because she's advancing through to the next round!" the crowd went out and gave the red head a full blown applause as she waved back at them.

"Well… it looks like Zoey won without any trouble" Kenny noted, "Looks like we'll have to improve if we're gonna catch up to her level any time soon"

"Yeah…" they both truly agreed that Zoey was better than them that moment. Even though she didn't pull out any fancy moves, her brilliant strategy and tactical thinking made her an opponent worthy of attention. Heck, some of the other trainers were already considering her a worthy opponent other than Dawn whose opening performance went through the roof. "Maybe I should talk to her next time. At least then I'll know I won't get hit by one of your super-punches"

"Geeze I already said sorry" Dawn hmphed back at him. "It's not like I did it on purpose like when we were in kindergarten"

"Oh yeah, every time I called you Deedee, you'd be the first to give me a black eye"

WHAM!

The boy should've remained quiet on that topic because the moment he called her least favorite nickname, he got himself another black eye. "Nurse…" he groaned, "Another ice pack please…"

Dawn made it back to the waiting room without much problem. She looked around and noticed that the numbers of coordinators in the room has dwindled to a select few who managed to make it to the second round. To think that this room was filled with the most talented coordinators from all over the world almost felt like it was a dream long since past. She looked around again and noticed Zoey entering from the stage zone with a smile plastered on her face.

"Congratulations Zoey" she cheered her.

"Hey there Dawn. Thanks. It was nothing. My opponent didn't really look like he was prepared to face me so it was kind of easy" the red head replied as she removed her hat and wiping the sweat off her brow. "You're probably up next right? Good luck, even though you don't really need it"

"Hehehe… that's already a given factor" Dawn said confidently posing in her charming way. "I'm sure this battle will be a breeze. Just you watch. I'll be back in this room in no time" and with that she march off towards the stage area to prepare for her next battle.

When she was gone, Zoey could only sigh in return. "I just don't get that girl. Either she got her attitude from Ash or she's really just too overconfident to begin with. Oh well… I guess there's no turning back now. Good luck Dawn"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Back on the stands, Brock and Johanna glued themselves on their seats as Dawn finally came out from the waiting room with her opponent. The crowd went on and gave the two of them a full house cheer that lit up the entire stadium. "Wow… listen to all that roar" Brock motioned as he had to put ear plugs on just to keep his ears from bleeding. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised knowing that this is the last round after all" he then turned his head to Johanna who was intently starring at the battlefield. "What's your take in all of this Johanna?"

"Huh?" she turned to him with a questioning look, "Well… I'm not sure. But if Dawn performs just like she did in the opening performance, then she'll be just fine. Besides, there's no point in worrying about something that we have no control over… right?" she let out a motherly smile which only made Brock sweat drop.

Listening to that last sentence well enough, he soon realized that she was saying almost the exact same thing as Dawn saying 'No need to worry'. He grinned nervously and looked away before chuckling to himself. "Oh yeah… Dawn… you are definitely your mother's daughter"

"Hey there Brock" came Kenny's voice as he, Nando and Zoey came by. "Mind if we scoot in?"

"Huh? Oh hey there Kenny" the squinty eyed boy noted his presence and slowly scooted away, giving the three of them some room to sit. "What are you guys doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at the waiting room?"

"The manager told us we could leave" Nando explained, "It was uncomfortable being cramped in that small room for the whole match so we decided to come here"

"Besides, we wanted to cheer on Dawn on her next battle as well" Zoey added with her casual smile. "We wouldn't have been able to cheer her if we were stuck in that room all day"

"I guess you guys got a point" Brock nodded.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" came Kitty's voice on the microphone speakers which broke off their conversation. "It is now time to begin the final battle of today's 1st half, 2nd round between Dawn Berlitz from Twinleaf town and Misaki Toro from Jubilife city! (cheers) The fans are expecting big things from these two so without any further ado… Coordinators, are you ready!?"

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Back on the battlefield, Dawn and her opponent took their respective sides on the court and looked to each other waiting for the bell to sound. As the time went on, she jerked her head to the side to see her friends waving at her with glee. She waved back but soon noticed that amidst that large crowd. A particular boy and his Pikachu seemed to be missing. She quickly remembered that Ash was still in his battle back at the arena and wouldn't be here in a while. "Coordinators, are you ready!?"

"I was born ready!" Dawn replied holding her Pokeball.

"Always… ready…" Misaki said seductively in her kimono.

"Alright then, five minutes on the clock! (beep) And… get ready…"

"_Ok Dawn"_ Dawn thought to herself as she closed her eyes to think of a happy moment just like what she did earlier at the longue. _"Just remember what mom taught you. Have a clear mind and a happy thought and you'll win for sure. Ok happy thoughts… umm… mom cooking my favorite dinner"_ she tried to picture herself back at home as a little kid again waiting on the table where her mother was preparing her favorite rice curry. But just as she pictured it clearly, her mother's face fazed out of the picture and was replaced with Ash's smiling posture. _"No! Not him again! Great, now my heart is beating fast again. I… I… what am I doing? Come on FOCUS!"_ she tried to scare herself back to normal by doing a mental scream, but it seemed to have worked the other way around. She seemed to have lost even more focus than before.

"And…… BEGIN!!!"

"Grovyle, the stage is yours!" immediately a grass Pokemon that resembled a wood gecko appeared with a bowtie on its neck.

Dawn jumped into her position and prepared to let out her own Pokemon as well, but for some strange reason, she could not get that strange feeling off her chest. She tried to suppress it with the best of her ability but it almost looked like a closet where all of her fears were lurking. "Pachirisu… spotlight!" she called out her favorite beaver Pokemon with a giant cute fluffy tail. "Let's end this quickly! Use Thunderbolt!" Pachirisu quickly unleash a powerful attack at the little creature.

But Misaki simply smirked at her pathetic attempt to harm her Pokemon. "Grovyle, charge straight at it and use leaf blade" the grass Pokemon charged directly at the thunderbolt, electrocuting itself but the damage was not too severe. Pachirisu was caught unprepared by this and was stunned by Grovyle's counter attack.

"Oh no! Pachirisu!"

"Now Grovyle, use pound and send it up into the sky!" the grass Pokemon obeyed and quickly used its tail to send the little beaver up, making it impossible to attack. "Good! Now follow it up with bullet seed!" the attack hit Pachirisu dead on and sent it to the ground with a stream of smoke.

"What a wonderful combination!" Kitty MCed. "Using three powerful attacks all at once without even once taking a breather! This certainly shows that you can't judge a Pokemon just by their looks ladies and gentlemen!" as the crowd turned to the score board, they quickly noticed that Dawn's points was severely drained to a near half, sending worried chills to all of her friends. "And this doesn't look good for Dawn, with only half her points left"

"Pachirisu, use sweet kiss!" a bunch of heart shaped bubbles appeared over the beaver's mouth, floating onto the air.

"Dawn now sends out a barrage of hearts and covered Pachirisu with a shield full of it. What a spectacular move!"

But Misaki only smirked out in return. "Heh… this should be easy. Grovyle, use leaf blade and cut through those hearts!" the grass Pokemon obeyed and cut through the heart shield of Pachirisu's sweet kiss like knife through butter. "Ha… now that's what I call a broken heart!"

"Amazing! Misaki used Grovyle's leaf blade attack and cut through them like they were paper!"

"Now Grovyle, attack Pachirisu!" and before Dawn could even react, Pachirisu was sent flying through the air again, landing a few feet away from its launch point. "Ahh! Pachirisu! Come on, get up! (chu… chupa?) Come on don't give up now!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"This is bad" Brock groaned worryingly. "Not only has Dawn's opponent got the advantage in Pokemon types, but Grovyle's agility is way superior making it almost impossible to beat by an electric type. She's gonna have to do something soon or else this could end up badly for her"

"And the scoreboard isn't looking well for her either" Kenny turned to the scoreboard and frowned at the sight. Dawn's points were now down to almost a quarter and her opponent Misaki still had plenty left to spare. "She only has two minutes left to go"

"With such a small amount of time, the only way to win will be for Dawn to defeat Grovyle utterly. This looks bad"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Knowing well that time was against her, Dawn quickly collected herself for one more dash effort to turn the tables around. "Come on Dawn, focus! I can do this! There's nothing distracting you now! There's… nothing…… there's… no one" again a feint image of Ash began appearing in front of her mind. She could see his face, his hat, his jacket, his cocky smile. But for some reason she could not touch it.

The crowds in the grand festival were growing stranger by the moment with Dawn's actions. After the match had begun, she had done poorly to say the least. The scoreboard was not in her favor and Pachirisu, the Pokemon that she had chosen for this battle was already badly wounded. She could not tell why… but something deep inside her was missing. Something that she used to have… something that was vital to every battle she went through.

"This is truly an upset everyone!" Kitty announced, "With two minutes on the clock will Dawn be able to make a comeback in such a short time!?"

There was silence in the air… Dawn was hallow… her heart bore a sting of pain that she could not remove. She was helpless and not even a miracle would be enough to save her from a total defeat. She looked to the side, her eyes empty as if the battle spirit had been withered away by some dark force of unknown. She could not lift a finger to save her own life and when her opponent commanded another of her attack, so too did the strength in her muscles… failed.

"_Dawn, wake up!"_

A mental shout of Ash's voice surged within Dawn's mind, sending a rush of thoughts and energy around her spinal cord. Again she could not explain why, but her it felt like every brain cell up in her head was working at full capacity. It felt like she drank a concentrated juice of energy drink in one gulp and no chaser to clean the aftertaste.

"Pachirisu, dodge it and use quick attack!" amazingly, Pachirisu was able to recover from its stun and attack Grovyle from the right side catching it completely off guard.

"What the?!" Misaki was indeed surprised by the sudden attack but was still determined to fight on knowing well that she still had the lead. "Don't let her get to you Grovyle, use bullet seed and send that little fluff of pillow flying!"

"Oh no you don't!" Dawn countered, "Pachirisu, use discharge!" again Dawn's surprise attack sent Grovyle flying making the crowd gasp in awe. "Now follow it up with another quick attack!" the attack connected and it seemed to have made a critical blow on Grovyle's left leg.

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As Dawn continued to barrage her attacks gracefully like a ballerina doing a routine dance, Brock and the others quickly noted that Misaki's points were depleting in an alarming rate. Though she still had the lead and the time almost up, there was hope… a slim hope that victory might just be within reach again. "Alright!" the young Pokemon breeder cheered in joy. "Keep it up Dawn, you're almost there, just a little more!"

"Come on Dawn! You can do it!" Zoey cheered along with him.

"Give it your all honey!" Johanna added.

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"Grr… this isn't over yet!" Misaki gritted her teeth. "Grovyle, use leaf blade one more time go!" the grass Pokemon quickly recovered from the sudden counter attack and then hastily launched itself towards Pachirisu where it made contact with minimal resistance. The little electric chipmunk fell to the ground heavily beaten, but it still had the will to fight.

"Oh no… Pachirisu!"

"This is the end! Grovyle, finish this off with solar beam!" with Pachirisu unable to move, Grovyle didn't even need to aim for a full blast attack. Everyone knew that this was the end for Dawn, but just when all hope seemed lost, a sweet kiss heart suddenly appeared out in front of the grass Pokemon surprising everyone. "Huh? What is that?"

"Wait… is that… one of Pachirisu's sweet kiss?" Kitty looked at the object a little puzzled.

"Oh no… Grovyle, look out!" but it was too late for Misaki and Grovyle. By the time the grass Pokemon unleash its powerful solar beam, it was caught in the explosion of its own attack creating an auto hit attack. "NO! Grovyle!" the entire stage was engulfed in a puff of smoke making it impossible to see what happened in the aftershock of the attack. Even with the seconds counting by, the whole stadium seemed to be quietly tensed up. Everyone was off their seats, heck, even Nando himself was wide awake wanting to know the result of the battle as much as the guys next to him.

As the smoke finally cleared, the crowd gasped in astonishment as to what laid before them. Grovyle was out cold and it looks like it wasn't going to wake up anytime soon. With only about three seconds left on the clock, the bell rung, signaling the end of the round.

"Uhh…" Kitty seemed a bit confused on who to declare the winner. Though Dawn really wasn't the one who defeated it, she still was the only one with a Pokemon still standing. "Judges… a little help?" Though a bit hesitant at first, the judges all agreed that a lost was still a lost. They all nodded their heads to the MC. "Alright, the decision is unanimous! The victor of this match goes to Dawn from Twinleaf town!" the crowd burst into cheers and whistles when the announcement was made. The gang raised their voices up as well, glad to see that their friend did not fall. But Dawn on the other hand, simply laid on her rear. Her legs were numb and she could barely even feel the shoes on her feet. She did not know what to say or what to even do at the moment. She won, but it didn't feel like a complete victory.

**(End of Flashback)**

"And that's what happened" Zoey finished with a sigh. "She won… by accident if you could say that"

"Well that wasn't so bad" Ash let out a breath of relief, "A win is a win and there's no need to be ashamed of that. When I fought with Brock back in Kanto I also kind of won by accident thanks to the sprinkler system that I turned on. An't that right Pikachu? (Pika pika) So where is Dawn anyway?"

"She's probably still packing up" Kenny answered. "Her mom is helping out right now"

"I see… well I hope they come out soon. I want to congratulate her myself"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Inside the changing room where the coordinators had met, Dawn was busy undoing her hairclip and let it flow down by the wind. Her mother was there too carrying the princess dress that her daughter wore earlier. "Dawn, come on now. Your friends are waiting for you at the entrance. They're all planning to celebrate at the Pokemon center later tonight"

"Hmm…" she replied lifelessly. Johanna noticed this and immediately became worried. She had that blank look on her face ever since she returned from the match. She couldn't tell if it was either depression, confused or just plain bored. But no matter which one it was, it had to be bad either way.

"Uh… Dawn, are you alright sweetie?"

"Hey mom" the girl cut her off, "Can you tell me honestly… how did I do in that last round?"

Johanna paused for a long while unsure what to reply. But Dawn already knew the answer to that question: she knew that she did poorly and her focus was off the mark by huge margin. There were many flaws in her moves and only during the last end of the match did she show exceptional skills. After awhile Johanna closed her eyes and smiled warmly at her daughter. "You did your best, and I believe that's more than what I could ask for. Now come on, let's go meet the others before the sun sets" she was obviously trying to avoid the question as best as possible.

"I… see…" Dawn replied even more lifeless than before.

"Oh come on now Dawn. It was only one match, that doesn't mean it's the end of the world. You'll have plenty of time to make it up tomorrow. Come on, what do you say?"

"Yeah… I guess…"

Seeing that she wasn't getting in any better moods, Johanna decided to use the sneaky gun. "Come on Dawn. I bet Ash is probably waiting for you outside too" she expected a strange reaction to come from her daughter, but what came next was completely unexpected. (even for me)

"Hmph! Like I ever want to see him again" she spat out the thought of meeting him which surprised Johanna. "He can go wherever he likes to for all I care" without another word the girl slung her bag up to her shoulder and walked away leaving her mother behind.

"Eh? What did she mean by that…? Ah! Dawn, wait!" Johanna pleaded. "Oh boy why do I have a feeling that this is going to be one long week?"

And just as Johanna said, there they were. The gang was all assembled outside the stadium entrance. "Hey Dawn, how are you feeling?" Kenny was the first to notice them.

"Oh hey Kenny" Dawn replied a little more cheerful. "I'm feeling better now that I finished. How about you guys?"

"Just peachy" Brock answered for all of them. But then he noted her sad face. "Hey cheer up now. Tell ya what: I'll go cook us a nice fresh meal to celebrate our victory. We can all stay at the park tonight and have dinner there"

"Yeah… that sounds nice" but Dawn's face didn't light up one bit. She held her fake smile as long as she could and she felt like she could break down any minute now. And just when she thought that it was impossible to make her break… that boy appeared. That cocky smile, that ridiculous hat, those little Zs under his eyes.

"Hey Dawn" Ash gave out one of his trademark congratulation smile at her. "Congratulation on your victory. I always knew you could do it teehee" he extended out his hand which Dawn was extremely hesitant to return the gesture. Right now she had strange mixed feeling developing inside her and all of them were alien to her mind and body. But it was those feelings that distracted her from the battle in the first place. She took a step back making the boy wonder what was wrong. "Hey… is something wrong?"

"_Why… why is he here?"_ was her thoughts going at the moment. _"Why now? He isn't supposed to be here now…"_ her heart began to pump faster, increasing the blood flow in her veins. Her thoughts became clouded and unreformed. _"What am I… supposed to do? Why is he here!?"_

Seeing her face with a mixture of emotions, Ash became worried. "Hey Dawn, are you ok?" he tried to reach out, but was suddenly caught off guard when Dawn slapped his hand away.

"JUST STAY AWAY FROM ME!" she screamed out loud before dashing off towards the horizon. The others were shocked beyond words at that very moment. None of them ever saw Dawn that angry at someone and raising her voice to such extent paralyzed them for a full five seconds. Kenny's eyes were wide open. Zoey was startled. Nando took his eyes off his book also confused on what was going on.

Ash of course was caught unprepared for this. Her scream was so powerful that he actually took a few steps back. Before he was able to recover, the girl was already beyond hearing distance. "W… wait Dawn! (pause) What happened? Was it… was it something I said?" Brock could only shake his head not knowing the answer to those questions.

Johanna also seemed to be confused. She did not know why her daughter acted so rash like that. She was sure that Ash's face would be able to lift her spirit up back again, but instead the effects became the opposite of what she'd hope for. As she looked at the rest of the gang, she could not help but sigh knowing that this was just the beginning of a downhill ride of a comedy-love-story.


	12. Happy Holidays

Yo to all Pokemon fans out there, just wanted to wish every reader a merry chrismas and happy new year, happy honnica, birthdays, and other holiday you may be spending on this lovely month. I won't be updating for awhile due to my internet disconnecting every ten to twenty minutes so i'm running on limited time here. For all of you uninspired readers (soon to be writers) here's a little clip from someone that made me write this story.

wwwyoutubecom/watch?v=fMqt7Ajkg4g (with the dots)

Go to link and I am certain that your inspiration meter will rise slightly. If not... well... go find your inspiration. Keep reading and keep writing.

From your friendly weekly updater-author

Paul E. Xion (not my real name)


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